For The Entertainment: The 76th Hunger Games
by nb1998
Summary: President Derisse has managed to take over from Paylor after her thirty years in charge and her first order as president is to reinstate the Hunger Games. But each year there will be a new twist with the 76th Hunger Games trying to entertain the capitolites. How far will the tributes go with many twists and turns along the way?
1. They're back

**Katniss' POV:**

Another slap is harshly planted on my now red and raw cheek. I have no effort to scream like I was four hours ago.

"I'l ask you again, who was involved in the rebellion," the peacekeeper shouts at me. I don't answer like I haven't been for the last four hours and I close my eyes awaiting the slap to come. Instead though I feel a icy cold metal pressed to my forehead and I wince my eyes open, knowing what it is. I see the peacekeeper tighten his grip on the trigger of the gun and I want to plead. Pleading is weak though, I will not give in. They've already killed Peeta and if killing me will help us stay in charge I will not say a word. I stare into the peacekeeper's eyes as he asks me again who was involved and I bring myself to speak.

"The rebellion was many years ago, why do you bother now for answers? We've beaten you once, we can beat you again."

The man stares at me evily for a little while before replying, "Now we have an army which can take over. We can destroy district 13 in a click of a button."

"Oh yeah.. I remember you doing that. What happened again?" The peacekeeper stares at me not wanting to answer my question because he knows exactly that rebels managed to take over 13.

"I am going to kill you if you don't tell me who else was part of the rebellion."

"And who's instructed you to do this?" I say at him. I'm tired and speaking is becoming more and more difficult.

"President Derrise."

"I didn't know Paylor had changed her last name," I say sarcastically.

"Since we took you into custody there has been a change in government," he says through gritted teeth.

"Then what's happened to Paylor?" I say in a much more serious tone.

"Dead. Now who else was part of the rebellion?" he shouts at me. Paylor's dead. She can't be. She had so much control, how have these taken over? How long have they been planning to take over? The eruption of the bullet pounds against my forehead which makes my neck jolt back unexpectedly. I hear him repeat his question in a mocking way and everything fades into a bright flame which seems to burn me to death. The girl on fire burns.

* * *

**President Derrise's POV:**

"And now I tell you Capitol citizens that the Hunger Games are back," I announce proudly over the microphone. "The rebels have been destroyed for their actions and district 13 is now gone," the Capitol audience bursts into applause and I smile at them widely. Thirty years of waiting after Paylor took over and we chose our time just write. Capitol citizens don't care who is in charge as long as they are entertained. And when the Hunger Games is around they will be entertained.

"The reapings for the 76th hunger games will be a month tommorow," I wait a little bit to let the cheering die down, "and from now on every Hunger Games will have a special twist," I shout as loud as I can. the audience erupt like a volcano as many begin to throw their hands in the air and others scream in delight. Just on cue a small boy with dark brown hair walks onto the stage with a small, hand-made, wooden box. He struggles to open the latch and I take out the one slip of paper in the box.

Everybody goes silent as they wait for me to read the card, "This year as a reminder to the districts that the games are also for the entertainment of the capitolites; there will be double the amount of tributes from districts 1, 2 and 4 as they are known for being strong while there will also be one more tribute from districts 9, 10, 11 and 12 for being known as weak." The crowd erupts in applause knowing that this card has been made especialy for them but I hold my finger up to indicate I have more to say, "The extra tributes from districts 1, 2 and 4 will be normal reaping age but the extra tributes from districts 9, 10, 11 and 12 will be from the age of 7-11. Making a total of thirty four tributes in this years games." I wait for a while basking in my glory before walking off the stage.

These games are going to be fun.

**A/N: This is my second submit your own tribute story. It will not be my top priority until I have finihsed my story 'Crippled' but I still hope to get the tributes in fast. I will post a tribute list and form onto my profile and send me the tributes through PM. You may only submit one tribute for the time being and please make them detailed. I will also not ask for any bloodbaths but choose them myself. To make it easier for me make the subject of the PM TRIBUTE.**


	2. Our Head Gamemaker

**Enobaria's POV:**

All of the victors are dead now. Apart from one. Me. I won the 62nd Hunger Games and also was one of the few survivors of the 75th. Derisse has let me survive because she thinks she can trust me, at the age of sixty there is not much I can do anyway. I wouldn't say I helped with the rebellion but I was on the rebellions side. I was forced to watch as the Capitol individually killed every other surviving victor. Peeta, Katniss, Annie, Johanna, Beetee and Haymitch all died with a bullet through the head. I was personally visited by Derisse who told me she thought I was still a career through and through. At sixty year old though I don't consider myself a career and the term makes me feel like I've done something bad. I know I have done bad things but I try to put them behind me. My teeth remind everyone that I was the girl who killed another tribute by ripping open their throat with my teeth. The moment still appears in my nightmares every now and again along with all of the other tributes I killed in those games. As soon as you turn into a victor you will never have a good nights sleep to come.

Right now I sit just outside Derisse's office waiting for her to call me in. I have been told that I have an important job to do and I only fear the worse. After another five minutes of twiddling my thumbs and trying to straighten out the wrinkles on my hands a peacekeeper takes me by the arm and leads me into the office. I'm awaited by the woman who must be about the age I was when I went into the 75th games. Thirty. Her jet black hair falls at jointy angles all around her head and if looks could kill I certainly think I would be dead about now.

"Hello Enobaria," she starts. I nod my head in response not wanting to reveal my croaky voice to her. So she carries on, "I have kept you alive for a reason, as you know a month today is the reaping for the 76th Hunger Games. And we have no gamemakers. I know you can be cruel. I know you can be creative. And I also know you are the right woman for the job. Head gamemaker." I gulp and smile at her. I don't know where the smile comes from but I manage it. I don't want the job but I know that if I don't take it then I will be dead in a matter of seconds.

"I'm a bit old," I croak in a flattered way.

"Yes Enobaria you are. But in old age comes knowledge. Do you accept the offer?" she says. What choice do I have. I nod my head and shake her hand. Is deciding on tributes deaths better than being dead itself? I'll have to wait and find out.

* * *

**President Derisse's POV:**

"And now I present to you our head gamemaker," I say waving my hand towards Enobaria who is walking onto the stage. The crowd begin to scream as soon as they realize who it is. Enobaria is a personal favourite in the Capitol. Anyone who does something special on their way to winning their games is, ripping a tributes throat out with her teeth seemed to please the capitolites enough for Enobaria. Many of them begin to chant her name and I hold my finger up to indicate silence.

"I hope you are looking forward to an amazing arena," Enobaria says in a sweet voice but also slightly evil - after finding out she had such a bad throat I had it surgically adjusted so that it sounds good. We hear some 'oohs' and 'aahs' before I lead Enobaria off the stage.

"Great job," I say in a thankful tone.

"Thank you," she says and begins to turn away.

"Wait," I say and she quickly turns back. "Don't you want to know who your fellow gamemakers are?" She smiles even though I know it's fake and I wave my hand towards her family walking out of the door. Her husband, three children, two sisters, one brother and frail old Mother.

"Now is everyone going to be a good little family and get along together?" I ask them like they're are babies. They all nod their heads almost in unison.

"Good. Because if I'm not pleased by the arena I will kill each and every one of you."

**A/N: Okay this is just a little way of introducing our head gamemaker. Remember tosubmit your tribte and you can only submit one. All the rules are in the first chapter and the form and tribute list is on my profile. Remember when you send me the tribute make sure it's by PM and the subject is 'Tribute'. Review please.**


	3. Our Escorts

**President Derisse's POV:**

"Come on let's move it," I tell the excited capitolites, "come on faster," I shout at them. The lines of people waiting to see is they will be an escort for the reapings barge into the small building much faster and a small cluster are sent out by peacekeepers for not dressing 'Capitol' enough. Serves themselves right. I quickly check the list to see if any of them were getting a place as an escort but thankfully they aren't. Once everyone has settled themselves down and everything is silent I begin to speak.

"Citizens of the Capitol, we are hear today to hear the names of our escorts for the up-coming Hunger Games," there is a few hoots but mostly silence as nervous women and men bite their nails hoping, just hoping, that they will be an escort. Since the rebellion finished it has been thirty years and all of the escorts are now too old... Apart from one. "There is five hundred and eight two hopefuls here today but only twelve of you will become escorts, understand?" most people nod while some just stare at me blankly like what I said wasn't clear enough.

"Okay let's get started then," I announce. "For district one our escort will be... Jerelia Unison," A young woman, who will represent the Capitol well, with pale skin and light blue hair tries to contain her happiness as she walks onto the stage. She smiles at me as she clip-clops her heels into her designated position and I put a wide smile on my face as I shake her hand. I call for district 2's escort, Yero Treytok. A young man with large red spikes protruding from his head makes his way onto the stage looking very cool. He crosses his arms over and begins to fiddle with the ribbon on his yellow and black suit as I call for the district 3 escort, Kop Eritia. The woman, thirty seven years old, makes her way onto the stage looking quite pleased that she has district 3. She stand next to Yero and pulls her dress down a bit so her feet are no longer visible. After a woman with sea-green eyes and a completely blue dress makes her way up for four and a plump man wearing a long wig is introduced for five everything seems to be going quite swell until I call the name for district 6's escort.

"Wert Ilonso," I shout to the crowds. There is another sigh as the people know it is not them and a man with grey hair and a patterned beard makes his way onto the stage. At first I think he is coming over to me to shake my hand but suddenly as I take one second to blink a warm but evil hand clips off the side of my cheek and before I know it the peacekeepers are taking him away.

"Why would I want district 6 you piece of shit?" he screams at me, "I deserve 1 or 2 or 4 not 6, anything but 6," he continues to rant. I look around to the crowd and see that everyone is looking at him in such a shocked way. I hear him curse at me a bit more before the door slams shut. Worried faces turn back to me and almost in unison many straighten themselves up obviously thinking that they might suffer the same fate as Wert. Who does he think he is? Some of these people won't even get a district and he's complaining about getting 6!

I rub the red mark emerging on my cheek before I introduce the woman escort for district 7 and the man who will be the escort for 8. Both stand in their spots without saying a word but neither of them are anywhere near as scared as the woman who is escort for district 9. She walks onto the stage adjusting her wig to make a shadow go over her freckled forehead before standing in her spot. I turn back to begin to speak before I hear gaps from the crowd. I turn around to witness the district 9 escort faint on the floor. A peacekeeper rushes over to pick her up and after about ten minutes of commotion a doctor manages to wake her up. For the rest of the time she stands in her spot not saying a word and looking quite embarrassed.

"Eric Gasener and Fretnin Juliop for district 10 and 11," I call to the crowd. Two men with almost identical hairdo's and facial expressions make their way onto the stage and stand still.

"Okay and now finally our district 12 escort. Could I please have an Effie Trinket?"

* * *

**Effie Trinket's POV:**

Me? I wondered why I had been summoned here. I was told it was just to spectator and possibly do an interview on what it was like being an escort for someone who started the rebellion. But no, now I'm an escort again.

Why do they want me? At the age of 67 I'm hardly suitable to be an escort. I begin to walk onto the stage and President Derisse smiles at me bigger than she smiled at any of the other escorts. Her red cheek stands out hugely on her face but I try not to stare but instead smile.

"Thank you Effie," she says as I take my place. Derisse goes on a bit more about how sorry she is for the people who didn't get a space and the crowd start to filter out of the building. I get many glares off people who I don't even know, they are clearly angry that I, an old lady, got a space before them. Believe me I wish they had my space. After being lead into a separate rooms we are told all of our timings and different interviews we are going to have to do. Derisse tells us that she wants to talk to each of us individually and I'm told I'm first.

After I'm lead into an even smaller room Derisse begins to speak, "you are on our side aren't you Effie?" she says very seriously. No, no I'm not. Since the rebellion I have hated the games and I have wondered why I ever enjoyed watching them.

"Of course I am," I lie.

"Good," she says and that is all she says before leaving the room and not making a return. I am left thinking about the rebellion and how much it changed my life. I was happy. Now it's all turned upside down and I am going to have to lead three tributes to their possible death. And being district 12's escort I don't think I will be bringing any back.

**A/N: Another chapter! Well I hope you liked it and please take that little bit of time to review. So everyone we have got 12 spaces left! But four of them are reserved,so really 8 spaces left. So if you haven't submitted and you want to make sure to read the few rules on the authors notes on chapter 1 and the tribute list and form is on my profile. Make sure to submit through PM and review!**


	4. District 13

**A/N: Now you find out what happened to district 13. Enjoy.**

**President Derisse's POV:**

"I was told that you managed to destroy district 13 for good this time," I spit at the peacekeeper standing in front of me. I lean up onto my tip-toes so he feels even smaller in front of me and his knees begin to shake ever so slightly.

"We did," he tries to say confidently, but a two year old would be able to distinguish the fear in his voice.

"Oh really," I say in a highly sarcastic voice, "Then why does it still have inhabitants?" I scream at him. He is about to back-chat me when I raise my hand up to smack him across the jaw. I pull my hand back down so it is at my side and I smile at the man evilly.

"You know what, I have just thought of a brilliant idea," I say in a sweet but still evil voice. You can visibly see the gulp go down the man's throat as I carry on speaking. "Fourteen rebels managed to survive your bombing," I stop to see what he says as he clears his throat.

"But... It wasn't my bombing," he says quietly instantly regretting it.

I retain my calm manner and carry on, "You were the peacekeeper in charge of what time the district was bombed," I say pointing my red nails his way, "you should have timed the bombs so that everyone was killed," I pause to see his reaction but all he does is stare blankly at me. "So, as I was saying, fourteen rebels managed to survive your bombing. Those fourteen people are rebels and can be dangerous. We are watching them on undercover cameras we planted in district 13 many years ago and we know their exact positions. Your job is to use that gun in your hand, go to district 13 and kill those fourteen people. Coming back alive is your reward."

He seems to sigh in relief at the fact that I'm not going to just kill him. He should come back alive. A trained peacekeeper like him should not die at the hands of the rebels. I lead him to the hovercraft station where four peacekeepers are guarding the entrance.

"Hello boys, Johnson here is going to be taking the hovercraft out for a spin," I say to the peacekeepers who quickly move out of the way to let me in.

"You know how to ride a hovercraft, don't you," I say turning to face him. He nods his head in assurance and with that he makes his way onto the hovercraft and after about two minutes he sets off. Will he come back? Only time will tell.

* * *

**Peacekeeper Johnson's POV:**

I pull the final lever that will take me on a straight route to district 13 and I sit back into the seat. After thinking over the president's words I check to see that the hovercraft is going in the right direction and after seeing that it is I make my way out of my seat and over to the sets of TV's. I scan all the different notices and after finding the one saying district 13 I turn it on to see my enemy. Fourteen rebels seem to be skewering the ruined buildings for something and every now and again they pull something out of the rubble and join their hands together. It doesn't take me long to realize that the things they are taking out of the rubble are dead bodies that the Capitol never retrieved. Dead bodies that are dead because of me, well kind of.

I watch the rebels for quite a time to come, every now and again checking that the hovercraft is going the right way. I look for their strengths and their weaknesses but as none of them are in battle I can't really tell. Most of them look quite tired but others arevery alert and are setting up traps to kill some animals. After another half an hour or so I see two of the men arguing about something and before I know it the fourteen rebels have broken up into two separate groups. The two groups seem to be searching for resources and after about ten minutes they begin to battle;e. I finally see that one team is very skilled with their weapons while the others struggle to co-operate with each other.

One man from the more co-operated team out of nowhere shoots three of the opposite team and a whole war commences. How can they do that? Rebels don't do that. But we haven't seen the rebels in action for many years now. How much they have changed, they used to be so loyal and trustworthy of each other. They would never turn on each other but this is a completely different story. It doesn't take long before only six people remain and as they are all on the same team the war ends. Just like that. Eight rebels dead. I can't complain though, they have just made my job easier.

After watching the rebels scavenge for food for another ten minutes or so the hovercraft comes to an abrupt stop and a robotic voice announces that we have arrived in district 13. I realize that on the screen the shadow of the hovercraft has appeared and the rebels have positioned themselves on the edge of the woods. I lower myself down the ladder to the ground and after a few minutes the rebels appear out of the woods. They probably think of themselves as quite sly (and they would be if I hadn't have known where they were).

"Peacekeeper scum," one of them shouts at me before shooting. It's as if I see the bullet coming towards me in slow motion and I quickly duck under it. I run behind the closest tree and fire my gun at the person who insulted me. He drops down dead with a shot to the head and a victorious smile emerges on my face. It doesn't take long before there is just me and two men. I run out from behind a bush I have recently positioned myself in and shoot at the oldest of the men. The bullet slowly flies towards his head at an odd angle but somehow makes it's way into his skull. The man next to him watches as his friend crumples to the ground and I can see what is coming next.

The gun-shot is fired by him and I attempt to fire mine but only his succeeds. The bullet hits my rib cage and I scream out in agony. I have failed President Derisse because right now the man who must be about forty is walking over to me.

"You'll never get out of district 13, you'll be dead soon," I gasp at the man and he sniggers.

"I'm a rebel I'll always find a way out," he says in a gruff voice.

"Yeah, and what sought of rebel kills fellow rebels?" I ask.

"They deserved it, they wanted to surrender. To the Capitol," the last part he says in disgust. "A rebel never surrenders no matter how tough the battle is."

"And," I know I'm just trying to gain time is so I ask the first question that comes into my mind, "who are you?"

"Me?" he almost laughs at the question. "Vick Hawthorne," he says proudly and with that a bullet hits my skull.

**A/N: Another chapter! I was just thinking 'I never explained what happened to district 13' so I thought I would and we got to find out Vick is still alive. Sadly Rory and Posy died in the district 13 bombings though. So we have only got eight more spaces left to fill and one is reserved so seven spots. So if you have yet to submit check the tribute list and post me your tribute.**


	5. Preparartions

**President Derisse's POV:**

"Okay, who's got this checklist?" I call out to the hoards of people scampering around the large hall. For a minute or so people begin to move around even faster and a woman with dark hair and about twelve piercings appears in front of me holding a clipboard with many, many papers on and a pen.

I eye her from head to toe for a bit and she begins to bite her lip, "Okay then," I say before her lip starts to bleed, "we are going to go over all of the preparations for everything to do with the games," I say in a cheery but slightly sarcastic voice.

"Nothing like..." she begins but I quickly stop her.

"Did I ask for your input?" I scold the woman who begins to bite her lip again. I stare at her for a bit and I realize that she is trying not to blink as I look right into her eyes. I open my eyes more wide and continue to look at her until her left eye begins to twitch and she blinks. I laugh at her and she manages out a smile so I begin to speak again, "First things first. The reapings are in three days, is everything on track to be completed by then?"

She flicks though her papers and begins to recite what percentage of completion each stage is in each district. I stop her at district 8 after realizing that most are about ninety five percent complete. "And also the escorts have began their travels to their designated district," she says quickly so I can't stop her.

"And I judge we have found a replacement for the district 6 escort," I ask thinking of when Wert Ilonso slapped me.

"Well...," she starts and mutters something to herself.

"WHAT?" I shout at the now cowering woman.

"We...we...we thought that the best punishment would be to send him off to the job he doesn't want to do," she stutters and quickly holds her hands above her face like I'm going to hit her. I raise my hand to scare her even more and her pen clatters off the floor sending an eerie silence through the room. After she realizes I'm not going to hit her she scrambles onto the floor and picks the pen up but continues to shake a little.

"Everything else is sorted for the reapings," she says flicking through her papers and every now and again making a swiping mark with her pen.

"Good," I say loudly to make her look at me. Her head quickly lifts up and she once again begins to bite her lip. Why does she keep on doing that. "Are the stylists and prep teams chosen?" I ask hoping to catch the woman out, anything to see her pathetic trembling face again.

"Yes, we have hand picked them to suit the tributes," she says sounding quite proud of herself, "and we have also got a new interviewer as Caesar unfortunately passed away," she says bowing her head in respect.

"Who?" I ask not bothering to mourn the now long gone Caesar. I can't say I knew the man anyway.

"Quio Reatay," the woman says once again sounding very proud of herself. I know Quio actually, everybody knows Quio. She has won countless awards for her beauty and style, she also recently got a column in the latest Capitol magazine interviewing famous capitolites. I have to say whoever picked her did a great job. I don't bother much more on the matter and I move onto how many tickets have been sold for the opening ceremony, (I am told it is sold out) and if our new training centre is completed, (which I'm told it is). After Paylor took over the old training centre was destroyed and so we have built a new highly developed one full of all new weapons and obstacles.

"And how is the arena getting along?" I ask sharply.

"Enobaria says that it is pretty much completed but she says she wants to surprise you," she says. I trust Enobaria to a certain extent.

"Outfits?" I ask tapping my wrist to indicate I'm in a hurry.

"All the stylists have designed chariot outfits and are just waiting for the right sizes of the tributes," she responds quickly.

"Okay, anything I've forgotten about?" I ask the woman who begins to flick through her papers for about the tenth time.

"No, but we are still yet to decide who will be the tributes mentors as we have no remaining victors," she says.

"What are the options?" I snap at her quite angry at the fact I forgot about such an important thing. No mentors and there will be uproar. And uproar among the districts can lead to rebellion.

"Well, we can either let the tributes pick one person from home to come to the Capitol and become the mentor or..."

"I like that idea, we'll use it," not bothering to listen to whatever the other option was.

"Everything sorted then," she says clearly relieved.

Now I just need to find the where-abouts of Vick Hawthorne. I don't want another rebellion on my hands.

**A/N: Hi everybody. I hoped you liked this chapter and I hoped you liked the idea with the mentors. So I think I'm going to make up who they pick as their mentors but if you have a special preference just tell me. Okay so there are three more spots open but one is reserved and one is kind of reserved so really only one spot. So if you are going to submit for that spot (you have to have not submitted a tribute already) PM me first to ask if that spot is still open because I don't want you to be rejected. Next chapter should be the first set of reapings.**

**By the way make sure you follow or favourite the story so you know there is an update!**

**Now as I have just wrote this hopefully good chapter for you would you do me the pleasure of reviewing. It would be great to know what you think of President Derisse, the mentors idea and Vick.**


	6. Reaping District 1

**District 1:**

**Joanie Greenwood's POV:**

Since the games came back there has been much hype in district 1. People began to bring out their old tapes of the Hunger Games for us all to watch and as us kids saw what are ancestors used to do and we began to train ourselves. From that first day when President Derisse spoke those words many of us kids crowded into the training centre which just the day before was used to keep fit. There was kids who had hoped for the Hunger Games to come back all along training through the day with no breaks and after my first few days of training I became one of them.

My passion for training grew and grew and now I realize that I only want to get away from my sisters and to get away from district 1. But then there is the harsh reality of not coming back or even of coming back and having to face district 1 all over again. Then though I would be in victors village. The more I think about it the more I think that the possibility of me winning this is large.

After watching more and more of old Hunger Games films it only took me until about the fifth to realize that the twist this year was not just random districts but the strongest districts. Year after year districts 1, 2 and 4 would come out triumphant and even on the odd occasion where another district won the 'careers', as everyone calls us, do well. The number of victors that emerged from our district was by far higher than any of district 3, 5 and onwards.

Of course though all of the victors perished in what they call 'the rebel war'. I know that the district 1 victors didn't have much to do with it though and they had deserved their victories. They trained for years after years while most of us kids now have just trained for a month in the new centers.

And that's where I am right now. In the training centre preparing for the first reaping in just over thirty years.

"Come on you can do it," my best friend Nycole shouts at me as I struggle to lift the weights bar above my head. My arms wobble under the unfamiliar weight and the bar plummets down onto my chest sending a searing pain through me. Nole lifts it off straight away and quickly asks if I'm alright. I nod my head in reassurance and look over to Laura Linkletter who is continuously lifting up the weight bar up and down. I shake my head in jealousy and turn back to my friends.

"Do you know if anyone is volunteering then?" I ask.

"Why? Do you not want much competition to the stage?" Nole says in a funny voice while nudging me with his shoulder.

"I'm a fast runner, I'll get to the stage even if the whole district is volunteering," I say in a half jokey half serious voice.

"Someone's cocky," I hear Laura's voice say behind me and I snap around to look into her golden brown eyes.

"Why do you plan on volunteering?" Nycole asks the question that's on my mind.

"Depends, I'm only fourteen. I've still got a few years left," she says walking over to us with a smug expression on her face.

"What if the games don't stay around for that long?" Nycole quickly jabs back at her.

"They will," Laura says ina voice that sounds a little too confident.

"What makes you so certain?" Nycole says walking up to Laura and basically pushing me and Nole out of the conversation.

"I don't see any rebels bringing down President Derisse any time soon," she says with an ugly smirk on her face, "you don't want the games to end do you Nycole?" she adds on pushing her shoulder with her little finger.

"Your from district 1 aren't you? You should want the games to continue so you can volunteer? You want that don't you?" she jeers at her continuously until Nycole elbows the girl in the stomach sending her crouching down in pain.

"Piss off," Nycole screams at her and I have to say I am quite shocked. In all the time I have known Nycole I have never heard her swear. What's made her so worked up now? I open my mouth to ask but pause as Nycole walks out of the room without another word.

"What's her problem?" Nole asks me but I simply shrug before walking over to Laura who has sat down on the weight lifting bench still holding her stomach.

"Do you know something I don't?" I almost spit at the girl. She laughs and shakes her head at me and I grab her training top. "Why did she get so worked up?"

She pulls away from my tight grip and begins to shake her head at me, "you should know. Your meant to be her best friend," and with that Laura picks herself up and walks away. "Just remember the number 5," she calls just as she leaves the room. Five? What does the number five have to with anything? What did Laura even say to her? I quickly recall the constant jeer in my head but nothing clicks. Laura has said that jeer to me before when I first didn't want to volunteer. What's worked up Nycole so much?

I give a quick glance at Nole who stands biting his nails before running out of the room to find Nycole or Laura. I need answers and I need answers now. I push open the sturdy training room door and make my way down the street where some small kids are doing a little game where they reenact the 74th Hunger Games. I listen vaguely as they call out famous lines and then underneath it all I hear a noise I know all to well. The noise of a weeping teenager. I round the corner slowly and watch as Nycole rocks back and forward curled up in a ball.

"Five," I say in a questionable voice and she pulls back like someone just threw a rock at her.

"You don't need to know anything," she says turning away from me to hide the tears. She cries often. Her mother died, well Nycole likes to say she wanted to go to a better place but we all know that she threw herself in front of the car on purpose. Suicide. Everyone knows it was and Nycole does to but she doesn't know how to accept it.

"I do," I whisper pushing myself into her warmth.

"But you might tell someone like she told you."

"Do you not trust me? Why did you tell Laura in the first place?" I say gripping onto her hand.

Instead of answering why she told Laura she answers my first question, "I'm from district 5. In those jeers Laura was trying to tell me that I don't belong here that I'm not who I say I am." I try to hide the initial shock of the fact she lived in district five and after a few more minutes she spills out on her old friendship with Laura and how when she told her she never thought they would dislike each other. The moments I spend with Nycole now seem quite touching and I feel our bond growing. Who ever said that careers don't have a heart?

The conversation continues for a little while and then I'm off home to get ready for the reaping. To get ready to volunteer. I walk into my house quite happy at the fact this should be the last time I enter it and I walk up the stairs slowly so not to let my sisters know I have gotten back. I creep to the top of the stairs and breathe a sigh of relief when I feel the whip connect with my breast and I scream out in pain. I lash out at whoever it is and meet the evil eyes of my sister Chelsea.

"Stop it!" I scream at her and try to barge past when I hear the familiar pace of April rushing up the stairs. She kicks me in the back of the leg and I collapse on the floor underneath the two of them.

"You are pathetic," April says shaking her head and then she kicks me again. And this is all I have had for a year now since my Dad took that peacekeepers job in district 2. Abuse. Abuse Abuse. Eva and Amanda aren't too bad but April and Chelsea will hurt me at any chance they get. It takes another few minutes before I manage to escape under Chelsea's legs and dart into my room. I slam the door firmly behind me and my heart beats faster and faster every second.

"Leave me alone," I say in a voice that sounds too innocent and not a volunteers voice. I cough a few times before repeating in a much more confident way. After thinking that I'm safe enough to travel to the wardrobe I walk over and slip on a black pencil skirt and a blood red blouse.

I slip down the drainpipe and begin to make my way to the reaping where I will volunteer.

* * *

**Riley Stevens' POV:**

The ball finds its way into Bradly's hand for the first time and he smiles at me like it is such an accomplishment. The game is simple really. He bounces the ball and I catch it in my hand. I bounce the ball and he catches it in his hand. Bradly says that when I volunteer this year he wants me to take the bouncy ball with me as my token and as long as I can find somewhere decent to play with it I don't think that it is that bad of an idea. Every now and then I ask if I can go train but Mam says I need to keep Bradly company.

I'm put on a difficult schedule for training thanks to Bradly and I normally have to wait until he goes to bed before I train. Since the games came back everyone in my family has taken a different route in their feelings. I, having watched the games many a time, started to train extra but it was a different story for my Dad. When Dad was younger he dreaded being reaped and he hates the fact that I want to volunteer. My Mam and Bradly on the other hand were scared. Really there is no need for it though, they both know I am capable of winning.

At first Bradly cried for days until I managed to explain to him that there will definitely be a volunteer as I'm volunteering. He didn't take kindly to the fact I'm going to volunteer so I had to drag some kid from the training centre in to explain that quite a lot of boys will be volunteering. After that Bradly sucked up and has been fine, every now and then he asks if I'm going to volunteer and although at first I was saying I was, I have come to the point where I am pretending I have that I have bad hearing and I haven't heard him.. Bradly being quite dumb though (no offence to him) believed me so decided he would write down the things he was saying so he could show me. He does this quite a bit now and even now while he bounces the ball up and down I can see the little notepad next to him with the words 'Are you volunteering?'

Every time I see this little note I have to reassure myself that this is the right time. I can't wait until next year incase the games stop again. Then that is my time gone and I will be forced to live in this run down shack of a house in stead of the luxuries of victors village. Well if I lived in district 10, 11 or 12 this house would be perfectly fine but according to everyone else in the district I am a 'scruff' because of the house I live in. I live in the bottom half of the district in a bungalow type house. It only has one window but has plenty of doors scattered around the place. The house was painted a dirty brown after my Father accidentally painted it thinking it was green.

That was when we found out my Father is colour blind.

That is just one of the features of my Father though, being colour blind kind of sums he up. He looks at the world in a different way to everyone else. What I see as something funny or enjoyable my Dad frowns upon.

My Father never used to be such an awful man until a year ago when my Mother turned ill. She was diagnosed with a life threatening disease and the Capitol refuse to pay for her medicine. My Dad was very calm at first and decided to sought it out he would just get himself a better job. But to get a better job he had to leave his old job first. He quit and his boss wasn't happy, they argued for the majority of the day until my Dad decided it was time for him to look for a new job. He searched the district for available positions in all the factories but none were available and the few that were did not accept him as his old boss had told them he was a terrible worker.

This was the first time my Dad hit me. He walked through that door and I asked him if he had had any look with the jobs. He responded by clipping me across the jaw with his knuckle. I didn't;t say another word to him that night and I never planned to again. The next few days he had went out looking for jobs but with no avail. My Dad wasn't able to get a job and since he has been unemployed and for some reason he decides to take his anger out on me.

Never Mam or Bradly. Me.

"Kaley's here," Mam calls taking me out of my trance. I leave Bradly to bounce the ball up and down before walking to the door where my girlfriend waits. I give her a peck on the cheek before leaving the house in my tanned suit ready for the reaping.

"So, how are you?" I say linking my arm within hers.

"I'm okay," she says in a hushed voice. "Why how are you?"

"Ready to volunteer," I say for the first time having not told her I was going to volunteer until now. She laughs at first but after seeing my serious face tugs on my arm as the tears start to stream down her cheeks.

"You know the games are dangerous, you've seen the videos," she cries.

"I can still win, bring the glory back to district 1," I say pulling her into a hug which she seems happy enough to accept.

"You only volunteer if you know you can win," she says pulling her face from behind my shoulders.

"Don't worry. I'll win," I say in the most confidence voice I can. I can win, I know I can.

* * *

**Nicky Osgood's POV:**

"Okay we'll let you go," the peacekeeper says. I begin to walk away when he grabs my arm, "for now. Straight after the reaping you are back here, got it," he shouts at me and I slowly nod my head. I walk out of the place they call a 'jail' and make my way to the reaping. If only he knew. If only he knew I'm never going back to that rotten jail again. Because when I win the Hunger Games I'll go back to victors village. Before heading to the reaping I quickly go into the community home and slip on my ripped jeans and muscle shirt and I can hear the bells that signal the reaping.

My Mam and Dad used to tell me stories of the bells when I was a mere 8 year old child who didn't understand the world. They told me that when they were little the bells would make the kids rush from their houses and they would all try and volunteer, that was when I decided I would volunteer if the games ever came back, not that I ever thought they would. But they did and just in time as well. One year later and I would have missed my chance. I enjoyed listening to my parents stories but they have been long gone since they died in the house fire. At the time I was busy hanging around with the 18 year olds, thinking I was cool. I admired them as they robbed the local shops and fought the peacekeepers, from when I was little I aspired to be just like them. Since then they have all been killed or turned into avoxes for their disobedience and that would be happening to me soon if I wasn't volunteering today.

Thieving and fighting is just common to me now. The amount of times I have entered that 'jail' is now a lost figure, but I don't care. Every time I go in there it gives me an accomplishment, a reason to continue doing it. For the thrill. Just last night I fought the man who owns the bakers after I tried to steal some bread. Normally I am stealing for the thrill of it but yesterday I was hungry. On the brink of starvation. I knew that I was either going to get the bread or I wasn't, and I knew if I was caught I would get taken to the 'jail' where they give you food anyway. For me it was a win-win situation.

When I ran out the bakers I was caught almost instantly and I punched the man in the face. The man was out cold on the floor but his wife managed to trap me in the back so when the peacekeeper came I was taken straight to the jail. There I was served porridge and a small bit of bread anyway. It was stale but just the feeling of having some food enter your stomach warmed me and I felt a little better. Still now as I enter the town square, where the bells still chime, I can feel the food in my body.

I walk over to the sign-in desk where a woman pricks me quickly not even looking me in the face.

"What's this for?" I say to her pulling my hand away. It seems that everyone behind and in front of me also looks confused by the prick but the confusion is quickly taken away by the explanation that it identifies us. After this we are all filed into separate sections and once again there is confusion but everyone notices that we are with people of the same age as us. As the mayor walks onto the stage I am familiar to the fact that he will show us a video and then the escort will come on as I have seen videos for the games many a time.

He walks onto the stage looking quite proud of himself before showing us the video. A big screen appears from behind him and the video explains in as much detail possible about the two rebellions and why the Hunger Games have came back around. Soon enough the big screen disappears and he welcomes are escort onto the stage.

"Hello district 1!" the escort with pale skin and a frilly baby blue wig on says. "My name is Jerelia Unison and I will be four lucky tributes escort. You mist feel proud to have more tributes than everyone else," she say still smiling and a lot of people chant the words yes and sure to her.

"Well we all know that there is going to be volunteers but we have to draw the name first," she says walking over to the girls bowl and running her finger round the edge. After a few seconds she plucks her hand in and pulls out the first slip that comes into contact with her hand.

"Eriil Deret..," she starts. But a chorus as "I volunteer" shouts back. For a moment Jerelia looks stunned and begins to walk back as the screaming girls run to the stage. The chase to the stage evolves into a fight as one girl throws another to the ground and makes her way onto the stage. She pulls her red hair back behind her head and begins to talk like nothing happened.

"I'm Joanie Greenwood and I volunteer as a tribute."

"Thank you very much Joanie," Jerelia says clapping her hands and everyone else joins in, "don't worry girls you still have one more chance to volunteer," she adds on and many sigh in relief having forgotten that crucial detail. Joanie walks over to her spot and pulls down her skirt a little bit before clutching a locket closer to her heart.

Jerelia begins to walk over to the boys bowl for the first time with her high heels on while some peacekeepers begin the process of using a laser beam and scanner to take all of Joanie's name out of the girl's reaping bowl. I don't know why they bother, the likelihood is she won't be chosen and even if she is someone would volunteer and it wouldn't matter. After a few seconds Jerelia once again beings the process of lunging her hand into the bowl and picking out the first slip that comes into contact with her wrinkly hand.

"James F..," she starts but I don't here the rest. I bullet off down the path kicking up dust into my competitors faces. I take a glimpse of the stage and leap as a few fourteen year olds begin to run. I cling onto the wood as splinters journey their way into my skin and after fending off a young twelve year old I manage to get onto the stage.

"Nicky Osgood," I say, "and I volunteer as tribute."

* * *

**Ruby Dazzle's POV:**

I scramble my way onto the stage and look towards the sickened faces of my 'new' family.

"I volunteer as tribute," I say to Jerelia completely out of breath.

"What's your name?" she asks in the kindest way possible and for some reason I take an instant liking to the woman.

"Ruby Dazzle," I say and I can almost feel the anger of my 'new' family emitting on me. Dazzle is my real second name but they prefer me to call myself Ruby Haer. A name I should never have. I would never take the name of a family that abuses me. I stand in my designated position and look towards my fellow tributes. They have both volunteered so I assume they will be part of the strong pack, like me. When I first watched the games the strong pack intrigued me, I liked the way they took out the other tributes one by one. They were confident like I am and was when I first heard the games were back. Jerelia repeats the same process for the fourth time now and a tall skinny fifteen year old makes his way onto the stage.

We all shake hands and I try to make eye contact with each of them. The other girl, Joanie, I give a firm nod at and she replies with a cheeky smile. It's a similar situation with Riley and Nicky and soon enough we are taken into the justice building.

"Now you get to say goodbye to the people who choose to say goodbye to you," Jerelia explains, "you will have a few minutes with each person."

I'm taken into a plush room with pink walls and blue carpet. After a few minutes waiting the first person to come in is someone I actually want to see. Caitlyn. My best friend.

"Well done, well done, well done," she repeats over and over again but I have to stop her as we don't have long.

There is a long silence until she finally comes up with something to say, "do you like your allies?"

I shrug my shoulders at first but continue with an answer, "they seem okay, especially Joanie."

"Good. Everyone told me to wish you luck because not everyone could come in."

"Tell them I say thanks," I reply but it comes as a shock to me that people want me to do well. In school I am disliked for my ignorance and bad manners, most kids don't like me but maybe they just want their district to win. Maybe they've wished everyone the best of luck.

Soon Caitlyn is dragged out and is replace by no-one. No-one. Not my abusive family. I was secretly hoping that maybe my Dad would even turn up and say good luck. But my Dad's been on business for years that was just wishful thinking and my Mam... Dead. Whipping. We needed food and the only way we could get it was through stealing. My Mam was whipped to death after being caught but since the laws have been changed so if you rob then you are just put in jail. I feel like even though my Mother is dead she has given us a slight bit of justice by changing the law.

I am suddenly interrupted with my thoughts as Jerelia and the rest of the tributes walk in.

After everyone has sat down she begins to speak, "In the past each tribute had a mentor but since all of the victors have died we have no mentors for you," she says, "so each of you gets to pick one person from your district to become your mentor. Pick Wisely." Really? We get to pick out own mentors. Thought go rushing through my head of who to pick. I weigh option against other options and I finally come to a conclusion in my head.

Joanie gets first pick and instantly chooses her coach from the training centre and it is a similar story for Riley and Nicky who pick expert trainers. Now for me.

"Who would you like?" Jerelia asks sweetly.

"Could I have Jacob Dazzle please," I ask. Jacob Dazzle - my Father. I don't know my Dad but I know he still works in district 1 occasionally and I suspect he is here today. Jerelia walks away and after about five minutes comes in with four people. Three are dressed in training costumes and the others look quite happy and then I look to the to the other man. He looks quite young and has short black hair. His ribs stick out because of his small stomach and he smiles a warm smile.

"Nice to see you," he says kindly.

"After twelve years," I finish his sentence.

**A/N: That's the first reaping. It's too long I think so the others ones will probably be shorter but there was four POV's to put in. Anyway I hope you's like it and it would be great if you would tell me what you think of the tributes through the review.**


	7. Reaping District 2

**Cavail Mirth's POV:**

I remember when Dad first gave me that tape. I was only three, maybe I was too young. That's what other people think, but I'm just glad my Dad was drunk that day and accidental handed me the tape. I slotted it into the machine and the images that projected to me from the screen changed my life. When the blood was first spilled a smile rose across my face and at the tender age of three I thought of this as entertainment; just like the Capitol. Again and again I asked my parents when the games would be coming back but they told me they never would. But they did. Now I will volunteer to go in.

Now I'm 13. In the tapes for the games the majority of the people from district 2 were 18 but we are in different circumstances now. I'm sure there will be many people running onto that stage to volunteer but not many will be as strong and as fast as me. I train everyday for at least four hours and I have done so for many years now.

"I'm going out," I call to my Mam and Dad as I walk out of the house. My Dad groans at me, clearly still drunk off last night, and my Mam tells me to be back for the reaping. Once I'm out of the house I make my way round it until I get to the backyard. I hop over the small fence, as I can't be bothered to use the gate, and I make my way into the small forest. We're aloud in the small forest where I let myself be free like I will be in the arena.

By free I mean being able to kill. In most of my spare time I come back around here and trap young animals in my snares. The first animal I killed was a small squirrel which can't have been much bigger than my hand. At the time my friend Jackro was there. I stabbed the squirrel through it's heart and although I could tell Jackro was unnerved he said he was fine with it. With many days after that Jackro began to get more and more annoying about how precious wild life is and that's when I first tested out a weapon on a human.

I walk over to the small grass mound where Jackro's body is. Most people think he ran off, no-one even bothered to think that someone had murdered him. Certainly not his best friend. I sit down on the grass mound and take my hunting knife out of my pocket.

I don't have much patience, waiting is something I hate. At first I try to sit and wait for an animal to come past but after a few minutes I begin to charge into a group of bushes where I know many animals live. I watch as different animals scamper out, some screaming, some thinking they have a chance against me. I set my eyes on a plump rabbit and throw my knife swiftly. Dead. I pick up my trophy and throw it somewhere. I don't kill for the food, I have enough of that, I kill for the pleasure.

After a short sprint back to my house and make my way into my room and put on my favourite games. I don't bother watching any of the before stuff so start at the bloodbath. The bloodbath is always the scene that I enjoy watching the most and this games is no exception. My idol, Cato, rises from his plate and from there the bloodbath begins. I watch eagerly as Marvel, Clove and Cato go about slashing tributes throats. Eleven die in the bloodbath but I don't get to watch anymore as my Mam calls me to get ready.

I pull some soft black pants on and after deciding they are too big I pull a gold belt other the top of them. I also put on a white shirt and bacl satin with some flat dress shoes. I make my way into the gleaming bathroom to style my dark brown hair.

"Are you ready?" I hear my Dad say in a drunken slur.

"Yeah, I'll be a second," I call back finishing off my hairdo and running down the creaking staircase. I'm about to open the door for everybody when I feel a soft hand grip onto me which can only belong to my Mam.

"Don't volunteer," she says and I snort at her, "for me," she almost pleads. Who does she think she is? What a bitch.

"What I do in this world I do for myself, not for you," I say in a stern voice before swinging my arm out of her grip. I storm out of the room and can faintly here my Mam calling my name.

* * *

**Luke Viper's POV:**

"I'm volunteering Mam, don't worry," I say to my Mam who is continuously patting me on the back.

"And..." she beckons me to say what she wants to hear.

"... I'll win," I reply.

"Yes, yes you will," she says patting me on the back even harder. She stops after a little bit and brushes my white silvery hair behind my neck. "At 17, you should be getting to that stage to volunteer before anyone else."

"I will. I have two opportunities to anyway."

"Make sure you are the first volunteer," she suddenly shouts at me.

"Why?" I ask in a relaxed tone.

"Because," she shouts at me slapping my leg lightly out of frustration, "you want to look the best. When you watch the reapings you'll see the first volunteer from 1 will be the best."

"I'll be allying with all of them anyway."

"No, sixteen careers is too much. Make sure you only pick the best."

"Mam, you can't have two career packs going around. That's dangerous."

"Well kill the rest at the bloodbath, it isn't guaranteed that all sixteen of you will be volunteers anyway. District four have never been as good as one or two."

"Then how come they have had about the same amount of victors?"

"Stop contradicting me Luke," she suddenly shouts again giving me a bit of a fright. "District four aren't like us, they aren't bloodthirsty. They don't have the urge to kill in the games like you do, they'll just kill if they have to."

"And since when were you an expert on district four tributes?" I ask and quickly regret it and as I expected I get slapped on the leg where a red mark is start to blush.

"Luke, I lived through the games. I saw the tributes. In the last two games, 74th and 75th, the district four tributes have been..." I can tell she doesn't really know how to say it in one word so it explains it instead. "In the

74th games the boy died in the bloodbath and the girl, my friend, died by some tracker jackers. In the 75th Finnick and Mags, the tributes, didn't even join the pack. You can't trust them."

"I know I can't trust them. I can't trust anyone."

"No you can't. Now go get ready, put your Dad's white shirt on," she says to my surprise.

"But... But it's Dad's."

"He'd want to wear it. He wore it when he volunteered."

"Dad never volunteered," I say too quickly trying to get her to explain.

"No, he did but another volunteer pushed him off the stage and broke his arm," she laughs, "he was furious that he wouldn't get the chance to volunteer." Then a question comes into my mind.

"Why didn't you volunteer?"

"I did, many a time. I was just never quick enough to get onto the stage. You are quick though. Now go get ready... Quickly," she says laughing at her terrible joke.

I rush up the stairs and enter Dad's room. No-one has been in Dad's room since... Since he died. Dad's death was unexpected, I was never told properly how he died but I have been picked on for it. People in school spread a rumor about it being something rude and since I have never been the same. My friends rejected me and I was lonely for a lot of time to come. Even after the rumor was proved false people still reject me and I have became sharp and selfish towards others.

I open the dusty wardrobe and pull Dad's white shirt off it's hanger. I make my way into my room and quickly get changed into my clothes before heading downstairs for my Mam's inspection. I must look okay because she deems it is acceptable. We make our way to the justice building where the whole conversation about volunteering starts again.

* * *

**Vika Tabor's POV:**

"We still have time to train," Julio says trying to pull me and his sister, Connie, with him to the training centre.

"We're going to the reapings now Julio," Connie says to her brother sternly. If we go do some extra training now we will feel extra prepared for the games but if we go to the reaping we will be able to get the furthest forward in our age sections making it easier to volunteer. But if we go to training and then go to the reaping I think I will still be fast enough to volunteer.

"Let's go to the reaping now," I say completely scrapping all of my thoughts I don't recall what type of voice I say it in but Julio completely changes direction and we make our way to the reaping. "Are you volunteering" I ask a general question to both of them.

Both hesitate to answer but Connie speaks up first, "Our Dad wants us to."

"Same," I respond quickly. It's true. Since I was born my Dad has basically made me training. From the age of three I have been going to the training centre and he has beckoned me on the whole time. Don't get me wrong I love my Dad but he doesn't get me. He thinks I want what he wants but I don't want the Hunger Games. I have to volunteer though, if I don't I won't get another chance. My Dad would hate me for life.

It doesn't take long for us to enter the town square where many people have gathered already. Most are just betters and spectators though so we should still get to the front of our lines. I begin to walk to my place when I a frustrated peacekeeper grabs my arm, "how many times do I have to tell people today that you have to sign in first," he says in a disgruntled tone. I'm pushed towards a small line and soon enough a needle is injected into my finger to take a blood sample.

"Next," the peacekeeper behind the desk calls in a stupid Capitol accent.

I move out of the way quickly and move towards my section, eighteen year olds. There is about four of us standing in open space. The other three here all look pretty bored and I have never seen them before so shouldn't expect to see them volunteer. After another five or six girls enter my section my Dad suddenly rushes over and grabs my hand. He just stares at me for a little bit before shoving a ring made of different gems into my hand. I take a little time to inspect the different colours radiating off each other until he buts in.

"Take this as your token."

"Why this? I've never seen it before," I reply bluntly.

"This was your Uncle's token when he went into the games," he says smiling. Of course my Uncle one of the many failed Tabor's. Throughout the games my family has had a total of nine participants. Being from district 2 you would think that about three or four got out but not one did, my Uncle no exception. I remember when we first saw the games were coming back I tried to tell my Dad that our family and winning the Hunger Games was never meant to be. This resulted in me being grounded so since I haven't brought up the subject.

"Thanks," I say trying not to sound annoyed like I actually am. I only see this token as a sign of bad luck. Whoever wears this token in the arena will die in the arena. Maybe I'll just 'loose' it. After a small pet talk on volunteering my Dad makes his way out of the section and many other girls begin to file in. I must zone out for a bit because suddenly I hear a loud voice being projected across the district and I;m surrounded by many girls, thankfully I'm still at the front of my section though.

"Hello everybody, my name is Yero Treytok," a man with red spikes protruding from his head says, "for this year and hopefully for many years to come I will be your escort to the games." With this he gets a loud round of applause and as the mayor is ill he plays the video for us. I watch unintentionally as the sound drives you to watch and then the video comes to a sudden halt and he begins to talk again. "This year your district has double the tributes so I will reap one girl then one boy then one girl then one boy."

He fidgets with his speaker as it goes weirdly loud and makes his way over to the girl's bowl. He dives his hand in and searches for the prey like a shark until he finally plucks the slip out. "Sara..." he doesn't get to finish as he drops the slip on the floor in shock of the amount of volunteers. Me being one of them.

The race begins...

I jump myself out of my section and sprint down the clearing before anyone else has managed to get out. I can see a few fifteen and sixteen year olds trying to get out but I think I will beat them. I catch Connie's eye and she gives me a smile as I jump towards the stage and make my way up.

"My name is Vika Tabor and I volunteer as tribute."

* * *

**Fleur Delta's POV:**

"Shine.." I'm off like a bullet shouting "I volunteer" along the way. The first time Vika managed to get to the stage before me but not this time. I jump up the stage and stand in my place next to Luke and Vika. I pull my white dress down a bit and announce who I am and that I volunteer. In not much time a boy called Cavail Mirth has also found his way onto the stage. He is only thirteen but I wouldn't underestimate him for a second.

"Okay everybody put your hands together for out tributes; Vika Tabor, Fleur Delta, Luke Viper and Cavail Mirth," Yero says and we get a large round of applause. He leads us into the justice building where we are all placed into separate rooms. The room I'm in is a bright yellow and is very similar to my room back home only a lot bigger. I brush my long golden blonde hair out of my eyes and sit down on a couch which looks quite comfy.

The first person to come in is none other than my Dad. The victor. They did kill all the victors but my Dad was warned and took on a false identity and changed the way he looks so he wouldn't be killed.

"I'm so proud of you," he says tears rising in his eyes. "All your training will be put to work. You'll be our families second victor," and he makes sure to keep quiet in his second sentence. There is probably cameras in here.

"All thanks to you Dad. However much I said I hated you for training me to aggressively I didn't mean it. I'm going to be able to bring pride to this district," I say genially. Me and Dad talk about strategies for the games before he is dragged out by peacekeepers and my next visitor comes in. My boyfriend. River Jones.

"Hey," he says in a teary voice trying not to look at me. River has been my boyfriend for some time now but I have never told anyone. Not since Barry. Barry was my ex-boyfriend but disappeared after I reported him to peacekeepers for incidents I would prefer not to talk about.

"I'll win it for you," I say gripping onto his hand which he kisses.

"I know you will. I have no doubt in that..." he trails off.

"Then what do you have doubt in?" I ask quickly.

"Loosing you to the games." And I can't say I'm not shocked. I've seen it enough time on TV myself when a tribute has came back and is incredibly different.

"I promise I won't change." I say kissing him on the hand this time. We share one last embrace before he is taken away and I am left by myself. The only other person that comes in is my best friend; Tallulah Flow. We talk about my game strategy and how she will volunteer next year before she is taken away as well. I'm escorted into a room where all of the other tributes are and we all share a glance at each other.

"You get to choose your own mentor," Yero suddenly blurts out and a sly smile comes across all of our faces. It isn't a hard choice for me. I'll choose the only person who is still alive that has won the games.

"Luke could I have the name of your mentor please," Yero turns to face Luke.

"I'll have my Mam; Crona Viper," he says.

"And you Cavail?" Yero asks.

"I can get through this on my own," Cavail scowls at him in a voice that makes Yero jump back in fright.

"Okay, okay that's fine," Yero whimpers, "Fleur who would you like?"

"Could I have my Father; Kendall Delta," I reply trying not to sound too happy.

"Okay and would you like your Mother or Father as well Vika?" Yero asks already starting to write down something.

"NO!" she yells at him and coughs, " I've lived my entire life to make my parent's happy. I think it's about time I made myself happy instead. I would like my best friend Connie Dewel." I want to stare at Vika in shock at her outburst but in stead I just look forward and wait for my Father. We're a right bunch of careers.

**A/N: That's the second reapings done :) I hope you liked the tributes and tell me what you thought of them in a review. Also if you haven't it would be great if you followed the story.**

**By the way doing all of the reapings might get a bit boring so if anyone has got any ideas for not doing some and making it something else that would be great :) Review please.**


	8. Reaping District 3

**Jesseca Mira's POV:**

I pull on my only pair of ballet shoes. I believe they belonged to my Mother at some point; she was the one who taught me how to dance. I pull up my white reaping dress and make my way into the room of my house that we call the hall. My Mother used to teach kids here how to dance but when I was born she gave up her classes just to focus on me. I know most dances and it's one of the few things that puts me in a good mood. My favourite type of dance is tap and that's the type I'm doing now. I rivet my feet off the floor in a steady rhythm and quickly pick up the pace.

I'm so drawn into the rhythm that I don't realize my Dad is in the room until I see his face. I tumble over my feet in fright and land on the fall holding my knees. He laughs and I do my best to smile over the pain of my bruised knees. My Dad would never be able to dance even if he had fifty years practice. He is too tall, too lanky; very similar to a grasshopper. Sure he can jump around but I laugh at the sight of him trying to move his feet in a nice rhythm.

"You ready for your lesson?" my Dad asks casually. I nod my head and smile. My love for technology over the years has become just as big as my love for dancing. Programming is my favourite because that is my Father's job. I follow him out of the room into another room in the house we call the programming room. Most of the work done in here is with programming but I tend to learn other stuff in here as well.

"Since it's the reaping today Jesseca, I'm going to let you have a bit of fun," My Dad says sweetly.

"Thanks," I say and quickly rush over to the wires before he can say anything else. I pick up the coil and untwine it until it is just one long wire. I look up to my Dad to check what I'm doing is okay and as he smiles I judge it is. I've done what I'm about to do many times before. It's a way of taking my mind off my Mother.

My Mother was a woman called Michelle, she died when she was only thirty and I was ten. My Mother was probably the only person that understood me and now no-one does. My Mother died from a heart attack, she never smoked, she never drank, she didn't deserve it. When my Mam died though I locked myself in my room for about a week and since I have only cried when I'm alone.

I continue to line out the wire and when I'm done I take out the mine. The same ones they used to have in the games and that I'm sure they'll have this year. I know exactly what I'm doing as I set the mine for a minute to it explodes. It's the thrill that makes me do it so after a couple more seconds I grab hold of the wire and wrap it quickly around the mine. Once it's tight enough I set fire to it with a lighter and after a few seconds the fire rushes round the mine and the timer stops. Everyone in district 3 finds this quite amusing if you do it to someone who doesn't know the trick. I throw the mine and wire into the junk bag and my Dad lets me go get ready for the reaping.

Once I'm in my room I take off my ballet shoes and place them on the bed next to me. I replace them with a small black pair of shoes with a white ribbon on and take my time to reflect. When my Mother was still alive she would tell me stories of how her friends were reaped for the games and how scary it was. She only did this to show me that times aren't hard compared to how they used to be, but it's all changed back to how it used to be now.

When district 3 first got the news that the Hunger Games were coming back everyone was scared. Many parents hid their children in their homes pretending they didn't have any but just the day before everyone in the districts name was recorded in a book. If we don't turn up to the reaping they will know and they will hunt us down.

I leave my room and make my way downstairs to where my Dad is waiting in a suit.

"Royston and Jila are here for you," he says pointing towards the open door where the two twins stand. Royston is dressed in a black suit and it looks like he has been saving up for this suit for a while Jila is wearing her casual scruffy clothes that I can't help but comment.

"Jila, are you not getting ready for the reaping?" I ask.

"What?" she says in a disgusted way, "sure I'll just go pretty myself up for the Capitol," she says in a sarcastic voice. I can't help but laugh like I always do at her sarcastic jokes. Royston on the other hand doesn't look too pleased by his sister's comment and I run over to him and give him a hug.

"How you doing?" he asks in that stupid girlish voice he has.

"Fine," I sweetly, "how you doing?" I mimic his voice. He laughs and I can't help but think that Royston is a girl in a boy's body. He's just so... girl-like. He's still my best friend though.

"Dad, is it okay if I go to the reaping with these?" I call into the house.

"Yeah, sure," he calls back, "good luck."

* * *

**Lars Staal's POV:**

"Take it out of your mouth," my sister Isabel cries to me as I take another puff on my cigarette. I stand up on my tip-toes so she can't reach me so she just clumps down on the sofa and frowns at me. I take a few more puffs before talking to her.

"Isabel I'll do anything I can to protect you, but you don't tell me what to do, okay?" I say to her quite sternly.

"Okay," she says flattening her eyebrows out. As usual I give her a hug and once I've finished my cigarette I go outside to get rid of it. I joyfully take the lighter out of my pocket and watch as the flames dance in front of my eyes. I hold the cigarette out in front of me and burn it until only ashes remain. I continue to play with the fire, I play with it along my skin so my hairs stand on their ends and I imagine all of the possibilities of fire. What could I burn? I search for a bit round the corner until I see a large packet which must have had some bread in. I quickly stuff the lighter inside and flicker a few times until the bag catches light and emits fumes of smoke quickly.

"Lars?" I hear my sister shout from somewhere, "Lars where are you?" I leave the bag to burn to a crisp and run into the house.

"What do you want?" I call.

"The reapings soon, are you going to get ready?" she calls back.

"I am ready," I say fumbling about at my clothes to make sure, "just get my scarf for me will you." It doesn't take long before she is rushing down the stairs in her little dress and I wrap the blue and white scarf around my neck.

"Do you want to go see Mam and Dad before we go?" she asks in a croaky voice.

"Yeah, sure," I say keeping my voice quiet so it doesn't croak like hers did. We lock up the house and make our way to the M factory. In district 3 there is factories A - R and M is where my parents worked. It doesn't take long to get to what is now a burial site. We scoot round the oddly placed graves and come to the two aligned next to each other in a funny angle. Our Mam and Dad. Isabel replaces the flowers with some more recent ones and we stay in silence for a bit.

Mam and Dad were working when there was an explosion. It's not nice to think that it was the explosion that made me love blowing things up and fire. The sight made my mouth drop open in awe at the time, I wasn't to know who was in the building. We don't stay much longer before we decide to go to the reaping.

The buzz of the crowd is not there as you would expect and in stead is replaced me drunken sobs from the more richer people. We get ourselves signed in and I wish her luck before making my way to my section. I push myself right to the corner and light myself a cigarette while I'm waiting. I'm not sure if anyone notices or not but if they do they choose not to say anything. It's perfect timing as my cigarette is thrown on the floor and our escort walks onto the stage.

"Hello district 3, are we all excited," the escort says gleefully, "my name is Kop Eritia and I am your escort for the games. Now I'm just going to show you a quick video all the way from the Capitol and then we will get started." The video begins and I choose this time to get my lighter out, I make sure no peacekeepers are watching and I close one eye so the flame is centered around everything else which blurs. I watch as I pretend the video is going up in flames and then the escorts hair. I imagine the fire and her screams and then an explosion; just to top it off.

Once the video finished I pull the lighter back into my pocket and Kop walks over to the bowl labeled girls. It won't be Izabel. I chant in my head over and over and over again until I hear her call out the name Jesseca Mira. I sigh in relief as a girl with grey shaped eyes and dark brown frizzy hair makes her way out of the fifteen year old section. The girl makes her way out of her section and stands in her designated position. Now there's just me to worry about.

Kop walks over to the male's bowl and makes no hesitation in pulling out the first slip she touches.

"Lars Staal," she calls. What the hell? What an arse-hole. I don't care about my stupid life but what about Izabel, how's she supposed to survive. Do they not think of these things? I make my way onto the stage reasonably quickly and stand next to Jesseca. We are asked to shake hands and before Kop can say anything I make my way into the room saying MALE TRIBUTE.

I don't expect many people to visit me, but I do expect my sister and a broad smile comes across my face as she walks in crying.

"It's okay Bella, you just take care of yourself and it will alright," I say gently wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Don't die, come back," she says still crying.

"I will," I say smiling a little.

"Do you promise? For me?" she asks her voice cracking.

"For you," I say pulling her into a hug that lasts until the peacekeepers drag her out kicking and screaming.

A little later the two of us are asked who we want as our mentors; I ask for my sister as there is no-one else and Jesseca asks for her Dad.

When I get to hug her again it makes me feel happy and I know I won't always be alone.

**A/N: I hope you like these two because I think they are quite interesting. So tell me what you think of them in the review. If any of you want to submit any tributes there is some spaces open in hatchetgirl311 and .everything's SYOTs. **

**Okay and about the reapings. I'm thinking that maybe I'll have some short reapings by doing a few in the escort's point of view. **

**Tell me what you think of the escort idea and tell me what you thought of the tributes in a review!**


	9. Reaping District 4

**Harabel Lucsley's POV:**

"Help me up," My Mother slurs at me.

"No, you put your self in the illogical position you are in, you get yourself up" I say plainly back to her. My Mother as always is drunk and as always tears begin to steam down her face when I say this to her. She should understand by now that I do not care for other people's emotions nor do I care to show any myself.

"Piss off then," my Mother shouts at me in a completely different voice to before.

"Irrelevant," I reply.

"What?" she slurs back in a shoutish form.

"It's irrelevant whether I piss off or not. The situation you are in has nothing to do with me therefore what I do does not affect you in the slightest." She stares at me blankly for a bit after I say this and picks herself up with the courtesy of the table. She walks around the kitchen for a bit just staring at random things and shaking her head.

"What day is it?" she finally asks.

"Reaping day," I respond. This conversation is really dragging on, does she not realize how irrelevant the conversation is.

"You volunteering?" she says in a scared and quiet voice.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"What does it matter to you? If you must know I think I can win, I have averaged out training score times watched past games and I have found out that my chances of winning are 97.657 percent," I respond quickly and walk out of the room. Stupid woman, does she not understand anything? She asks irrelevant questions and gives me illogical statements.

I walk up the stairs hearing her calling after me and throw on a black long sleeve jacket and some black pants. A steady breeze blows through the window drawing me to close it when I see small kids playing outside. When I used to see these kids play I would see them playing tig or hide and seek but now it's fighting to the death they prefer. Sometimes I wonder how the Capitol are so influential on districts 1, 2 and 4. Before the second rebellion the Hunger Games was all about the career districts and now they are back. In the training centre there is many kids wanting to volunteer but our district isn't as 'careery' as districts 1 and 2; people know that they have to give leadway to the kids who stand more of a chance. I being one of the people that stand a chance. If I volunteer I will get to the stage first because the people will let me.

I close the window but continue to look out over the seas of district 4. Friends splash inn the sea before the reaping but I have no use for pointless interpersonal relationships. Why should I care for someone else if they are not me? You can't trust people anyway. I will not trust anyone in the arena either. I will not join the careers like everyone will expect me to.

Slowly I begin my descent down the stairs and without a goodbye to my Mother I leave the house and make a short trip to the training centre. I don't know when the reapings begin but I will know as soon as most people begin to clear out. I make my way up to the fifth floor where the knife throwing station is. I plan to get my kills with knives, and if I can get sponsors then I'll dip them in poison as well.

I walk over to the station where there is a target board and a few knives, there is only about four other people in this room but they are having a break so I can have as many goes as I want. I pick up the first knife dip it into the lethal poison and throw it at the target. With my accuracy, technique and ability all considered the chance of it hitting the bullseye is 95.489 percent. The knife glides across the room until it finds it's way into the middle circle. I am quite happy that I hit it but showing my emotions is pointless. I don't care what I feel as long as I hit the target.

After a few more throw a large bell rings out in the training room which can only signal me to make my way to the reaping.

* * *

**Alyssa Nettra's POV:**

"You don't have it," the doctor says to me in a calm voice and I sigh in relief, "for the time being."

"What? So I can still get it?" I shout at him. "That's not fair."

"I'm sorry Alyssa but it's passing on through your families genes and since we can't identify what it is we have no way of stopping it," he says sounding quite sad. "Lisa it's your turn for a checkup," the doctor beckons to my Mother who is slouched in her chair. My Mother is very ill, that'd the disease that I'm being tested for. The doctors say she is lucky to still be alive as my Brother died from the disease when he was only 13. My Mother replaces me in the chair and after a few injections the doctor reveals how long my Mother has left.

"I'm afraid at the most you have a month, Lisa. Whatever the disease is is eating away at your cells and your immune system has long since been defeated. I'm sorry to say that your body doesn't want to fight back." A month? Tears flow down my cheeks and I watch as my Mother gets out of her chair emotionless and goes to pay the doctor.

"Alyssa go get ready for the reaping?" she calls in a croaky voice to me. I run out of the room that I now only associate with death and in stead of going back to the house where my heartless Dad is I make my way to the beach. I don't want to spend anytime with my Dad he's horrible. He didn't even shed a tear when Clive was killed.

I sit down and let the waves wash up on my feet every now and again. That's one thing district 4 is good for; taking your mind off things. The waves can just take you away to a different place where everything is so much better. Where Clive is alive and my Mother is well and where I have no chance of catching this fatal disease. I take myself off into a dreamland and stay there until I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I jump a little bit at the shock and turn around to see my best friend Marissa.

"Hey," she says in a curious voice. She knows I have had my test today.

"I don't have it," I reply and she smiles, "yet."

"What? So can you still get it?" she replies in the exact same way I did to the doctor.

"Yeah," I sigh. "My Mam has about a month left." I can see that Marissa doesn't know how to reply to that so in stead she sits down next to me pulling me into her.

"It'll be okay. They'll find a cure," she says trying to encourage me.

"The doctors in the district can't. The only way would be if the doctors in the Capitol came..." I trail off.

"Well maybe they will come," she says hopefully.

"Yeah, if I won the games..." I say laughing. It's hard not to laugh. I would never win the games. I would never be in the games to start with. If I'm reaped I'm sure someone will volunteer to replace me. I hope.

The two of us sit in silence for some time to come before we decide to head off to the reaping. Maybe someone from our district will win.

* * *

**Kai Brookshore's POV:**

I stand next to Caspian in my section and wait for the escort to come onto the stage. I suspect that the buzz in district 4 is by far the biggest apart from 1 and 2. Many boys are talking about how they want to volunteer and many of them are in my section; the seventeen year olds. It doesn't seem to be the same for the girls though even the oldest ones look nervous to be reaped and I haven't heard one girl say they are going to volunteer. But that only makes it easier for me because if there isn't a volunteer then the tribute probably won't be strong. I will volunteer. I will go into the arena and win.

A month ago when I heard the Hunger Games were coming back I was so excited. My Dad has always thought that the Hunger Games would come back but he didn't know when. He always though that both me and my Brother would go into the games but last year when my Brother turned nineteen and the Hunger Games had not been announced to come back my Dad was furious. He kicked Beck (my brother) out of the house even though it wasn't his fault and since then I was hoping they would come back. Mostly to have the experience of going in and winning but also so I would not get kicked out the house by my Dad.

I know I can win the games. I know I will win the games. There's no ifs or buts about it. I'm the strongest person in district four elegible for the reaping. I'm the most ruthless and the most skilled with weapons. No-one in this arena will stand a chance against me.

"Look who it is," I suddenly hear Caspian jeer at a figure coming towards me. I can't see who it is because of the blinding rays of sunshine but I can see they are wearing very similar clothes to me and they defiantly aren't seventeen.

"Kai," the figure shouts and I realize who it is. My Brother.

"What do you want Beck?" I say to him in a tone which my Dad would use towards him. My Dad has told me not to respect him and I have began to avoid him.

"Have this as your token?" he says gasping clearly having been on a run or something. In fact I know he's been on a run because I can smell his sweat. He hands me a wooden ring and smiles, "I made it for you," and with that he's gone and I'm left with the stupid ring on my hand.

"You keeping it?" Caspian says in a serious tone. It's rare to hear Caspian say something in a serious tone because he is normally joking around. I look at the ring for a bit and consider what my Dad would think. I twirl it round my finger a few times and it drops onto the sound below me. For a minute or so I consider just leaving it there but in stead I pick it up and push it onto a finger it clearly isn't meant to go on. After trying to get it off and figuring it won't I leave it there and the escort comes onto the stage.

"Hello everybody, I'm Sea Selia and I will be district 4's escort. Now just watch this video and then we'll see who our tributes will be," a woman wearing completely blue says. Is she trying to impress us? Or does she naturally just dress in the colours of our district? I spend the majority of the video watching this woman as she twiddles her thumbs and continuously pulls her dress up until it is just below her knees. "Okay well I hope you liked that," she says alerting me that the video has finished. "So ladies first," she says walking over to the bowl and picking a slip out.

"Angelica Dreyk," she calls and I hear a few girls yell I volunteer. When the Hunger Games used to be around the amount of district four girls that volunteered was a lot but now there is not many at all. I see a few girls making their way to the stage but after everyone realizes that Harabel Lucsley is volunteering they just let her get to the stage.

The girl is quite muscular with her straight black hair held up in a high ponytail, "Harabel Lucsley," she says plainly answering Sea's question on what her name is. Everyone knows Harabel in district 4. She's strong and definitely would have a good shot at the games if I wasn't in.

"Okay now I will draw a boy's name," the escort announces.

"Drake Will..." the escort calls but stops with the amount of volunteers. I push a few boys out of the way and make my way onto the stage with ease.

"I'm Kai Brookshore and I volunteer as tribute," I call.

"That's very much in the spirit," Sea says joyfully, "do you mind telling us why you are here volunteering?"

"Why I am here? It's simple, I want to be the victor. And soon I will be."

* * *

**Chris Octavian's POV:**

Superstition isn't always a bad thing. Maybe when you walk under that ladder something might actually fall on you, or maybe when your crossing someone on the stairs they might accidentally push you down. It's like the Hunger Games. Yeah, they're back but is that really a bad thing. I see it as more of the ultimate karma test. A way of balancing out the heroes from the villains. I'm superstitious and I like to investigate into things. Like that boy who just volunteered. He's seventeen. Why didn't he wait another year when he could have? Why is he so cocky? It's just thing I like to find out. And the girl on the stage. Why does she use such long words?

Who are her friends? I've never seen her with any. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad if I was reaped because I would find my answers. That's if they'd tell me.

"Now for our second lady," Sea announces to the crowd and I watch as she makes her way to the reaping bowl.

"Alyssa Nettra," she calls out. I know Alyssa kind of. Only because she is extremely strong and she is skilled with most weapons. In stead of the 'I volunteer' that everyone expects to here there is silence as Alyssa slowly makes her way onto the stage. Who's going to volunteer for a girl who could win it for us? I cross my fingers for her as she makes her way onto the stage and I can only hope she doesn't stand on the crack on the sidepath. Luckily she doesn't and she stands on the stage next to the other two tributes.

"Finally our last boy," Sea says plucking the name from the bowl. "Could I have Eric Silin please?" she calls and a young boy makes his way out of the section as once again many people shout I volunteer. Then I see it. The young boy steps out of his section and everything seems to go in slow motion as he drops his pocket mirror and I hear the words I VOLUNTEER coming out of my mouth louder than anyone else's. I'm pushed out of the crowd into the path by someone and the escort is calling me up. What did I just do? I volunteered because of superstition. I walk past the boy and make my way onto the stage.

"I'm Chris Octavian and I volunteer as tribute," I say in a shaky voice. I stand in my space and Kai and Harabel look at me in disgust. What have I done? Soon we are escorted back stage and I'm taken into a room which is decorated with antiques you would only find in district 4. I take a seat and my sister walks in with tear stained eyes.

"Now I've got no-one is," is the first thing she says. I'm about to say something but she carries on, "Mam committed suicide, Dad's a drunk who stays out at sea and now you've volunteered to die in place of a stupid boy who broke his pocket mirror," she says crying again.

"I didn't mean to," is all I can choke out.

"But you did, how do you expect me to live. We're struggling to thieve enough with the two of us never mind just me?"

"I'm sorry."

"Then why'd you do it? When I was in that juvenile detention center I wished I could come back and be with you but now you're going," she says crying. Once my sister was caught pick-pocketing and she was taking to the detention center for a year. She was once a lively girl but now has a terrible disorder.

"I'm sorry," I repeat again and again but I don't think I can be forgiven.

When I said that superstition isn't always a bad thing, I take my words back. It mostly is.

Harley is dragged out by a peacekeeper and after getting no more visitors I am told to join the other tributes.

"Now," Sea starts, "we are letting you pick a mentor this year to take with you to the Capitol." What? Really?

"I want Harley Octavian. My sister," I blurt out. Luckily Sea accepts.

Kai asks for his Dad. Alyssa asks for her best friend Marissa and Harabel asks for no-one because apparently mentors are irrelevant when it comes to the games.

Soon enough Harley is sitting next to me and although she doesn't forgive me for volunteering she knows she will have food for however long the games go on for. And if I don't come out she can steal some for home as well.

**A/N: Hi, thanks for reading and I hoped you liked these tributes because they are quite interesting, don't you think? Okay aboutthe short reaping things I will definately be doing it in the point of view of an escort for district 6 as he was the one who slapped preisident Derisse but otherwise i don't know. Obviously the other reapings are going to be shorter now because there is only two or three POV's and not four.**

**Finally please review. i know some of you can't. But please do because I need to know you are reading so your tribute can stay in longer.**


	10. Reaping District 5

**Steen Klein's POV:**

"Do you want to get up Steen?" my Mother calls up the stairs to which I reply with a groan of soughts.

"Sure, what time is it?" I reply trying to sound as awake as I can.

"I don't know but the reapings are in an hour." I pull my soft hands around the back of my blonde hair and tie it into my usual short and spiky ponytail before getting up. It doesn't take much effort to put on a white dress shirt, a black tie and black dress pants so soon enough I'm downstairs eating breakfast with my Mother.

"So, do you know who the poor souls are that have to take extra tesserae out?" my Mam says in a sad voice but when I look towards her she smiles at me. Her smile is very similar to mine, I think. The two of us are always smiling, happiness makes the world go round my Mam always says. If people aren't happy then people aren't getting along with each other. What's the point of not getting along? You only live once anyway.

"I've heard that a twelve year old is taking some out for all six of his younger brothers and sisters," I respond trying to recall the conversation I had with someone about the occurrence.

"I don't know how his parents cope with seven children. I struggle to take care of you sometimes," she says sadly.

"But you don't have an extra parent to help you," I say nodding towards the back door. We never use the back door. Not since Dad left anyway. My Dad was a deadbeat, he abused Mam sometimes and was drunk... always. When I was nine I did something to him that I'll never forget but my Mam supports me for it. I snapped. I beat my Dad half to death one night when he fell on the couch drunk, my Mother dragged him away from me and when my dad woke up he ran away. We've never seen him since. What made me do it? I don't remember. If I was angry at the day I had or if I was waiting for it to happen. I never thought I could do it but I did. I can't take it back now.

I don't notice until about three minutes after I said that, that my Mam hasn't responded. Instead she is looking at her cup in her hand and clearly recalling memories with Dad. I've heard her talking in her sleep about him. Sometimes she says nice things but sometimes she screams. I've never had nightmares about what I did. Does that mean I don't regret it? When I think about it, I can only think of the bad things he did. I can't think of how he was the person that brought me into this life because that makes him sound nice. He's not.

I quickly finish off my breakfast and I begin to think of the reaping. It's been thirty years since the rebellion and now the games are back. Who will the poor kids be that are reaped?

"Did you know anyone that was killed in the games?" I suddenly blurt out to my Mam which takes her out of her trance.

"Yes," is all she says and I realize if I want her to develop her answer I'm going to have to ask more.

"Who?" I ask after the short awkward silence.

"I knew a girl named Finch. She was my best friend," she says and a smile comes across her face. I can tell that memories are flooding into her head and she wants to tell me them. "She was in the 74th Hunger Games. The commentators likened her to a fox. She was sly and her red hair and amber eyes made over tributes give her the name foxface," my Mam adds on and tears begin to appear in her eyes. I know what's going to happen next, I'm going to hear how she did in the arena and how she died. It's obvious that she died, everyone knows that the 74th Hunger Games was the one where two tributes from district 12 won.

My Mother continues to speak with tears streaming down her face, "When she was in the arena she didn't go into the cornucopia but in stead just ran. For the next few days she was clever avoiding traps that the careers had set and when it came to the feast she hid in the Cornucopia," my Mother pauses for breath and I can what's coming next, "she got to final four, which was amazing for a district 5 tribute and it was her slyness that led to her... downfall. She was following the district 12 tributes and the boy was gathering berries. Finch thought they were edible but they were nightlock..." my Mother trails off. I never knew my Mam was such good friends with someone who was so involved in one of the most important games ever. "Anyway let's go to the reaping," she says and with that we walk out of the door with our smiles plastered on our faces.

* * *

**Isabelle Rayner's POV:**

I'm fast. I'm good at long range combat. I have great navigation skills. Unlike most tributes I can swim. I repeat this sequence in my head over and over and over again as I walk up to the stage. I stand next to Pryer, the fat man who is our escort.

"Thank you very much Izzy," Pryer says. It's bad enough that he's reaped me now he's making stupid nicknames up. I quickly scan my eyes over the crowd for Elliot. How must he feel. He must feel like I feel. Lost, alone but watched. Like everybody's eyes are focused on me but they can't stop what is happening to me. I give a smile to Elliot and continue to tell myself what I'm good at but soon my weaknesses soon to seep in as well. I don't know what to eat in an arena and I'm terrible at fighting. How do I stand a chance?

"Now for our male tribute," Pryer says stomping his way over to the male bowl and picking out the first slip that comes into contact with his hand. I cross my fingers and hope that it won't be Elliot. It isn't Elliot though, it's the boy that I would never want it to be. We've never spoken to each other but I know everything about him.

"Steen Klein," Pryer calls. Steen makes his way onto the stage smiling, as he usually does. It's quite creepy, his smile that it, but he always makes an effort to be friendly and kind and he'll do anything for his Mother. Including half beating his Dad to death. Damien, Steen's father, turned up on our doorstep that night begging to be let in. He told us how his son beat him half to death and he had to run. As soon as my Mother saw him she was love-struck. At the time she was still married to Dad and the next day Dad mysteriously died of food poisoning. Damien moved in and never leaves the house. I hate Damien as much as Steen does. He gets drunk every night.

Suddenly I'm told to shake Steen's hand and I'm take out of my trance. We are taken into district 5's dirty justice building and I'm told to sit in a room which, judging by the smell, someone has recently had a cigarette in. I sit as close to the window as I can and soon Elliot walks in.

"Are you okay?" he asks drawing me into a long kiss.

"I'm just shocked," I say. "It comes back and I'm reaped the first year and can you believe who my district partner is?"

"I know, I know," Elliot says running his fingers through my long black hair. "You'll win it though Isabelle. I'm sure you will," he says those two sentences to me about twelve times and soon he is dragged out. I pick myself up and head to the door where the peacekeeper is standing.

"If my Mam turns up don't let her in," I say before returning to my seat. Thankfully when the door opens next it's my friends Rachael, Sara and Kleo that walk in. They wish me the best of luck and after they leave the next person that walks in is Steen and Pryer.

"I'm happy to say that you..." Pryer pauses for dramatic effect, "get to choose your own mentors," he says clapping his hands. I turn to Steen who clearly has no idea who I am and he is simply smiling as he always is.

"Well can I have Elliot, my boyfriend?" I ask and soon enough, like magic Elliot is heading to the Capitol with me and Steen picks the strongest man in the district, Monek Dry. I can tell this will be awkward for me but how about for him?

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews I'm getting. I know it's fast updates but it isn't taking me long to write the chapters :) I think I'll have every tributes POV but next chapter I will have the escort's POV because he was the guy who slapped President Derisse.**

**I hope you liked these two. They weren't planned to be linked at all but I hope the tributes creators like the idea. So tell me what you think of the two of them in the review :)**


	11. Reaping District 6

**Christina Grant's POV:**

I consider district 6 lucky. We don't have to send double the tributes and we don't have to send a tribute from the age of seven to eleven but then we still have to send two tributes, are district 6 really lucky? We send two tributes who, let's face it, aren't going to be coming back. I've watched the videos time and time again and I know that district 6 never do well. In the 71st, 72nd, 73rd and 74th Hunger Games all of the district 6 tributes died on the first day. I'd like to say that we have improved but since the rebellion we have been laid back. Not much transport has been needed as most of it was just delivering the tributes to the Capitol and taking them back in a wooden box, that was until a month ago. When the Hunger Games were put back on the factories were reopened and we had orders for twelve new trains and one new hovercraft. With the amount of inexperienced workers it was a hard task and many of us kids had to ditch school to help build the trains.

Last week we were inspected by the Capitol and we had only managed to do the hovercraft and nine of the trains. A public whipping took place for the people in charge of the factories and in the process four people died. Since we have managed to make all of the trains but the images of the men being whipped is a nightmare to us all. Each night people can be heard screaming and when peacekeepers are around most people will hide in their houses.

Right now though district 6 is in mourning for the tributes who are going to die in the games. Apparently before the reapings, in the past, district 6 used to gather around the graveyard which is scattered with many disfigured bodies all clumsily buried underground. So that is where we are now. I stand with my head down staring at a single gravestone with the name of a boy who died in the 46th Hunger Games.

"Could everybody join hands please?" the old man who organized all of this asks. I grip onto the shaky hand of my Dad and I can only think of the horror he would have went through as a child as his friends were taken away from him one by one and now that will happen to me.

The service, (I guess I can call it that), doesn't last much longer and we are all told to get ready for the reaping before making our way to the justice building.

"Is everyone okay?" my Dad asks with teary eyes. All four of us kids nod our heads before making our way to out house. We used to live in a reasonably big house but when Mam died in the train accident we didn't have enough money. For a while we scrounges the streets until we finally managed to buy this house. It's only got one floor but it's cozy.

As soon as I enter the house I head to mine and Tyler's room. Tyler is my seventeen year old brother.

"Volunteer for Liam if he's reaped Tyler," I say seriously as he walks through the bedroom door.

"Don't worry I will. You volunteer for Mary if she's reaped," he replies in a relaxed tone while getting changed into his reaping clothes.

"I will," I say thinking of the possibility. So basically I have my five slips in and Mary's three, but it's Tyler we have to worry for. He has took tesserae for all five of us as well as the six slips he already has to have and the two slips he's taking for Liam.

I quickly pull on a plain light blue dress with a brown leathery belt and make my way to everybody else in the family.

"Is everyone ready?" my Dad asks pulling on his ring. I twiddle my Mam's ring around my finger and we all nod our heads in unison. Together as a family we make our way our of the door into the streets of district 6.

"Christina," I hear a familiar voice shout.

"Sam," I shout back trying to look around for where he will be.

"Over here," I hear him shout to my left and I let go of my families hand and rush over to him. "Is your Dad okay?" he asks as soon as I'm next to him.

"I think so, why?" I reply quite worried.

"He looked really upset at the service," he says as we begin to walk down the street.

"Oh, I think he lost some friends in the games. Did you Mam or Dad?"

"Well my Mam's not around for me to find out but my Dad lost a few friends," he says and I suddenly feel guilty about asking of his Mam. His Mam died in the same incident my Mam died in and since we have bonded really well.

"Well good luck at the reaping," he says dragging me into a hug.

"Same to you," I reply before running back to my family.

* * *

**Apollo Lavin's POV:**

"What if I get reaped?" I say staining my hands with the damp grass.

"I don't think you will, your only fifteen," my cousin Rallo says. Me and Rallo are unbreakable together. He is the only person I will ever talk to about anything that concerns me.

"But your eighteen," I say pulling the grass around me still.

"Don't worry about me."

"I will worry about you. You've helped me when my parents haven't."

"Yeah, well anyone could have," he says pulling a weird face. "They didn't deserve you anyway. Not the way they treated you and your brother."

"Why do people turn to morphling?" I ask a tear starting to roll down my cheek.

"Because they're depressed or upset. Not many people go on it nowadays anyway."

"Mam and Dad did," I say turning to face the ground.

"Because your brother died," he says mournfully which reminds me of the service we should have went to this morning.

"We forgot..." I start.

"... to go to that service this morning," he finishes off the sentence for me.

"Yeah."

"I didn't want to get upset," he says and then looks at me with a smile on his face, "do you want to go to the reaping now?"

I pick myself up off of the floor as an answer. I take this opportunity to look at Rallo and how similar he is to me. His fair skin, brown hair, grey hairs and tall. All features that I have. It doesn't take long before we get to the reaping and I'm standing in the large crowd of fifteen year old boys. They hustle and bustle around and at points kids get pushed onto the ground. I move forward to get out of the way then suddenly regret my action. What might they think of me? They might think I'm some stuck up brat. I'm not. I move back. No. Now they might think I want to join in the hustle and bustle.

I consider things over and over again until the mayor walks onto the stage and begins to read the treaty of treason. I watch as the bowls are wheeled onto the stage. I won't get reaped.

* * *

**Wert Ilonso's POV (district 6 escort):**

The chain that my foot is attached to burns against my ankles and I want to scream out. The peacekeepers are watching me carefully as the two bowls come behind the curtain so I'm in reaching distance to them. Someone places a crutch in my hand so it looks like I can't walk very well and I scowl at them. The real reason is so I won't run away. This is supposed to be my punishment, coming to district 6. It is a punishment. I slapped the president so I wouldn't have to come back to district 6. What if people recognize me here? Have I disguised myself enough?

One month ago when the Hunger Games were announced to be coming back I slyly made my way onto a train in district 6 to the Capitol. I spent my first few days adjusting myself so I had a patterned grey beard and Capitol like features. I soon disguised into a Capitolite and changed my name to Wert Ilonso. I had to move so I could have a life. I didn't have a life in district 6 because I lived on the streets. I planned on moving to the Capitol getting loads of money (which I did) then becoming an escort (which I also did). But I became the escort for the wrong district. I planned to become the escort for 1 or 2 or 4 where I could buy a new, big house with my money and change my features back. They would never know where the escort went. But of course I would be the escort for district 6. As soon as I found out I was I slapped the president hoping she wouldn't make me go but in stead that my punishment was to come here.

They have kept me under peacekeeper watch at all times and now I must lead two kids who I will probably know to their deaths.

The curtain raises in front of me and I perch my lips to look like more of a capitolite.

"Hello district 6," I say in the biggest cheery capitolite accent I can, "welcome to the reaping. I'm Wert Ilonso and could you kindly watch this video for me." The video plays but quickly finishes and I dive my hand into the girls' bowl.

"Christina Grant," I call out and a very pretty girl with long blonde hair makes her way onto the stage. She shakily steps onto the spot next to me and I shake her hand. This is horrible.

"Apollo Lavin," I call out and sigh in relief at the fact I've never seen either of these kids before in my life, but have they seen me?

It isn't long before they are told to shake hands and a curtain drops down in front of me. They watch me for instructions and I tell them to go into their separate rooms. I'm soon taken out of my chain and once the tributes have finished their goodbyes I'm told to ask them who they want as their mentors. The girl quickly announces she wants her old brother Tyler and the boy wants his cousin Rallo.

"Let's go," I say leading them to the train. This will be a terrible few weeks.

**A/N: I hoped you liked the explanation to why Wert did that. Well tell me what you think of the tributes and also go onto my profile where I'm going to put up a poll about how many to die in the bloodbath.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, it's really great how many I'm getting. Please review this chapter as well.**


	12. Reaping District 7

**Guire Davids' POV:**

Me and my brother, Carreg, don't get on too well. We fight physically and verbally but he is the one person I can talk to if I want advice on something. I walk over quite quietly to my brother and slowly tap him all the shoulder.

"What do you want?" he asks in a rude tone.

"I just want your advice," I say quietly pulling my hands down by my side.

"Oh sorry Guire I thought it was him," he says pointing to someone behind me. I follow his finger to a fourteen year old boy that has just started the job today and has been asking my brother question after question.

"What did you want advice on?" he asks calmly.

"The reaping," I say feeling embarrassed that I came to ask about it at all. He wouldn't know anything about it and he doesn't have to worry about it. He was born just at the right time; he turned nineteen two days ago meaning he has narrowly avoided having to be part of it all. When we first found out the date my parents had their fingers crossed hoping it would be after his birthday, when they found out they showed happiness and elation for him but nothing for me. Me - the one who is sixteen and has quite a few slips being placed in that bowl. I haven't even heard a good luck from them today. Nothing.

"Don't think about it too much Guire," he says looking into my eyes but he sees that it hasn't helped me much. "You know if anyone in our family was reaped we would do great. Well apart from Emile but she is only twelve so she won't get reaped," he says patting me on the back.

"Do you think I will get reaped?" I ask suddenly.

"There is people with a lot higher chance than you Guire," he says pushing me over to my axe.

"Thanks," I try to say but it comes out as more of sigh. I walk over to my axe which has been untouched because of my worries. I manage to pick it up though and once I get into the rhythm I'm fine with it. I begin to let myself go into that little world. Lodge the axe into the tree, pull it out. Lodge the axe into the tree, pull it out. I repeat this over and over until I hear the familiar bell that signals my Mam and sister, Emile and are coming home from work. The two of them work together selling clothes at the market and for something they enjoy doing they get quite a bit of money.

"We're back," my sister calls out childishly like we didn't already know by the bell and the barks of the dog that can be heard from somewhere in the house.

"I'm going to go take the dog for a walk," I say placing my axe on the ground and grabbing the leader from a peg we made. "Come on Cassius," I call inside the house and soon enough the door comes out making a mess of the garden.

"Just take him out will ya," my Dad grunts at me ruining all the fun. I quickly attach the leader to his collar and give my sister and Mam a smile before leaving the house. As soon as we are in the safe confinements of the green fields I let him go off his leader and he begins to bound across the field. He chases rabbit after rabbit and tussles around with the long grass. I begin to run up the straight path laughing at him every few minutes when I see my group of friends all ready in their reaping clothes. My group of friends is mostly girls with only one boy.

"We were just coming to call on you," Abel says in that flirtatious voice she seems to have with everyone but people seem to think that me and her have something going on. Trust me, although she's very pretty, I wouldn't go out with her. I don't want to ruin a friendship.

"Well you's can walk with me while I take Cassius out," I say nodding towards the dog who is now rolling around a tree root. We spend most of the walk talking about the reaping and me and Jo (the only other boy) talk about how our 'training' may come in handy. We decided when the games came back that if the career tributes can train why can't we? We've practiced hand to hand combat, throwing axes and we even managed to carve some spears to use.  
They wait for me outside and I get changed into some grey dress pants and a top which is light blue and slightly too big for me.

"I'm going to the reaping with my friends everyone," I shouts into the house which is replied with a few mumbles from everyone and Emile comes rushing over to me.

"Good luck," she says hugging me tight.

"Same to you," I say, "don't worry you won't get reaped.

* * *

**Katri Mellows' POV:**

"Do you know what I saw the other day?" Elle, my best friend, says pushing her glasses up so she can see me better. I just nod my head at her so she can continue. "A ladder that went to the very top of the justice building," she adds on gleefully. I know what she is proposing as soon as she says it. It's time for another one of our stunts. Me and Elle are always looking for crazy things to do and climbing onto the justice building on reaping day is good enough for me. And what's even better is that we will never get caught, district 7's justice building is tucked away in the corner of the district and the reapings are held quite a bit away. While everybody is beginning to gather there we will be on top of the justice building unseen.

We begin to run at the prospect and not before long we are at the bottom of the ladder. We watch as the peacekeepers begin to walk to the reaping square and I lunge at the ladder making sure my reaping blouse isn't getting dirty in the process. I climb rung after rung until my foot slips and the thrill of dangling in mid-air makes my heart beat fast. I look behind me at Elle who is about half way up and I continue until I reach the very top.

What would my Mam and Dad think if they could see me now. Well my Dad is a workaholic and to be honest couldn't care less about me. If he could see me now he would probably just tell me not to do it again. On the other hand my Mam is a horrible person, she left our family to go work as a stylist for the games because she enjoys watching them. She's changed her image completely to look like a capitolite and on the rare occasion that she talks to us she never asks to speak to me.

I help Elle up at the very end and we look over the district together. It's trees mostly in district 7. Everywhere. It's like they're our guards that won't let anybody hurt us, but if that was the case they have failed miserable seeing as though they have let in an escort who is going to take two of us away to our probable deaths. Other than the trees there is different people scattered about all making their way to the reaping.

"Who do you know that has the most slips in the reaping bowl?" Elle asks me.

"Plenty of the eighteen year olds have a lot," I answer. A small breeze begins to blow our way and the sound of the rusty ladder shaking tells us to go down before it gets to windy. This time I go down the first and somewhere near the middle I try the experience of just hanging on by my hands. The breeze blows through the air again and my blouse blows up so I can only see the fabric.

"Go on down," Elle says nudging me with her foot. I make my way down to the bottom and the two of us make our way to the reaping.

"You're late!" the peacekeeper scowls at me as I walk over to the signing in desk. She grips onto my hand tightly and takes a blood sample and does the same for Elle. "Go to your specified section," he says pushing us towards the girls. It's a shameful walk to the fourteen year old girls and we just manage to push ourselves in at the very edge.

The first to walk onto the stage is our mayoress, a plump but kind woman, she reads out the treaty of treason and introduces our escort onto the stage. A woman with thin lilac hair skips her way onto the stage and smiles nicely at us. She's wearing a blue and yellow dress which drapes about two meters behind her and a small black cardigan over the top.

"Hello district 7, I'm Treycee Jones and I will be your escort, now we will just watch this video first," she says waving her hand towards a screen falling down. The video doesn't last long and the reaping bowls are brought to her. "Which one is the ladies?" she whispers to the mayor who points to the one on the left. She walks over slowly to the bowl and plucks out the slip.

"Could I have... Katri Mellows up here please," she says and I gasp. How can it be me? Out of all the slips? Me? I compose myself and make my way onto the stage. I'm given looks of pity and every now and again someone pats me on the back. As soon as I get onto the stage Treycee begins to pick out the male tribute, "And Katri will be joined by... Guire Davids."

A boy emerges from the sixteen year olds fairly quickly with toned skin. I don't recognize him too well but I vaguely remember him running with his dog once when I was climbing trees in the field. He pushes his brown hair up slightly and looks up to reveal dark blue eyes. As I examine the boy further I notice he has a scar on his eyebrow and a few freckles. He gives a short smile to me as he lifts himself up onto the stage and takes no time in shaking my hand.

"Our tributes of district 7, Katri Mellows and Guire Davids," Treycee announces and we are taken into a vehicle which leads us to the justice building I was at just twenty minutes ago. It takes a while for our visitors to get here and I only get two.

The first in is Elle. She tells me I have a chance and reminds me of memories never to forget before handing me a locket. I try to pry it open but find it impossible. She just tells me it has the pictures of the ones I love in. I assume it means her and my Father and she is taken out. My Dad makes a short appearance but because we have to get on the train soon he is taken away from me without a goodbye.

A few minutes later I'm sitting next to Guire who is also wearing a locket (which smells of pine). "Who would you like as your mentor?" Treycee asks. "You can have anyone you want."  
If I take my Dad then he'll be angry because I've made him miss work. "Can I have Jayson Johns please?" I ask and she nods her head. Jayson is the strongest boy in district 7 and not only works with axes but many other weapons as well.

"Could I have my brother Tyler?" Guire asks. Treycee walks out to get our mentors and I look to his locket and he looks to mine. It's hard to know you have to kill someone when they clearly have someone they love waiting for them back home.

**A/N: Very fast update. Make sure you've read district 6 reapings in case you just went straight to this one. Anyway hoped you liked the chapter. Make sure to vote on the poll.**

**Thanks for all the reviws it's really great. So please review!**


	13. Reaping District 8

**Lynette Caraway's POV:**

When district 8 heard about the Hunger Games coming back there was uproar. When the peacekeepers arrived they were attacked immediately and many of them died. As the Capitol didn't know who killed the peacekeepers they set up cameras everywhere. They watched our every move just like they will do in the games. Over the first week many people were arrested after speaking bad of the Capitol and a public whipping took place. It wasn't until I went to the whipping that I realized that my Dad had been arrested as well. He was made to stand with six other men and two women while they waited to be whipped. Seeing the first woman whipped made me cry at the thought it would happen to my Dad and soon enough it did. I cried and cried as he was whipped time and time again and I was forced to watch it the whole time. After they had finished whipping him he fell to the floor in a state and I screamed out. They didn't listen to me though they never do. They nudged his body a few time with their guns before deciding that his life wasn't worth it. They shot a bullet through his head and that was the end of my Dad. My Dad who had only said that the Hunger Games were a waste of a child's life.

For days and days after my Mother did not return home. Me and my two siblings, Metrice and Noah, were worried. I ventured out into district 8 to look for her and what I was too find was not a pretty sight. I walked down to the textiles factory where she worked and found that she had hung herself with a piece of clothing on top of a pipe. I screamed more than I had when I saw my Dad and I was left with nothing. Just my brothers.

Now I'm inconsolable. No-one has been able to comfort me or my twin brothers and now we have to face the reaping.

"Are you's two getting ready?" I call up the stairs and I hear a few groans that signals that they are. Since my Mother and Father's death I have had to look after the two of them and it is something that I have actually enjoyed. At the age of nine they are still into playing games so I have entertained them the best I can. I have tried to take their minds off our losses and in the process I have managed to take my mind off it at times as well.

I hear the pitter patter of their feet coming down the stairs and I look up to them. They wear green ties and a white shirt to match my green dress and I give a smile to them.

"Okay, you know where to go after the reaping?" I ask and they nod their heads. "Where?" I ask just to make sure.

"We come straight back here and wait outside the door," they say at the exact same time then burst into laughter. I pick myself up and begin to make my way to the door, waving my hand towards the door Metrice and Noah scurry out and as soon as I've locked up they give me a big hug.

"You won't get reaped sis," Metrice says letting go of my neck and gripping onto my hand.

"You haven't even got many slips in the bowl," Noah says in a hopeful voice and I nod my head to both of them.

"Guys, I don't think I'll get reaped so don't worry about it," I say in a reassuring way and they nod their heads happily. I don't think I'll get reaped. Noah's right I haven't go many slips in the bowl and there is plenty of girls in district 8. My life would be over if they chose me. What chance would I have of getting out? I'm fast and can climb but what else am I good at? I guess I would be good with knives and I could try new weapons in the training centre. Anyway, why am I thinking about getting reaped when I know I won't. But what will happen to Noah and Metrice if I do get reaped? They can't fend for themselves. I look towards the two boys who I strolling quite happily to the stage in front of me.

I won't get reaped. Noah and Metrice will be fine.

* * *

**Collin Etheren's POV:**

"There is no right part in death, ever. Even if it is necessary," I say throwing the TV control to the floor in frustration. The TV continues to blabber on for sometimes to come while me and Josh begin to speak over it.

"I don't think anyone thinks death is necessary," Josh says to me wishfully.

"How about the Capitol?" I say in an obvious tone.

"I mean in the districts," he says defensively.

"How about the career districts?" I respond quickly.

"Fine, just people in district 3, 5 and onwards," he says with a funny smile on his face.

"Yeah," I say folding my arms over my chest. "It's going to be hard seeing two kids from from our district go into the games," I add on which makes me even more frustrated.

"I know, we won't get reaped don't worry," he says reassuringly and I can only hope that we won't. I've known Josh for too long to see him be taken away from the games and to be taken away from Josh myself would be just as bad. At the age of three my Mother was robbed by someone in the night and after trying to fight back she was murdered. At the time I didn't understand the situation but I did know that my Mam wasn't coming back. I became friends with Josh so I would have another person to be friends with and when his parents passed away he moved in with me. He has lived with me and my Dad for some time now and I know I would miss him dearly if I or he was to die by the hands of the Capitol.

"Let's go the reaping," I say pulling on a pair of grey shorts from the floor and replacing my sleeping top for my green t-shirt.

"Yeah," Josh says pulling his messy blonde hair out of his eyes. The two of us make our way to the reaping fairly quickly because we live quite close. The mayor gets the whole process underway by reading the treaty of treason and introducing us to a fat Capitol man who bounces his way onto the stage.

"Is everyone as excited as I am?" he says excitedly placing his hand by his ear for answers. There is a few mumbles and he smiles at us like we just cheered as loud as we could, "that's the spirit. Now just watch this video then we will get everything underway," he says waving his hand towards a large screen appearing from behind a curtain. The video also goes by quite quickly and before I know it the man has shoved his hand into the girl's reaping bowl.

"Lynette Caraway," he calls to the crowd and a girl emerges from the sixteen year old section. She begins to make her way to the stage and she smiles slightly but then unexpectedly makes her way behind. She begins to scream something about some people called Noah and Metrice and she gets her way to the edge of the square. She manages to push away a few peacekeepers when one grips onto her tightly and escorts her to the stage.

"LET ME GO!" she screams pounding her fists at his shoulder, "NOAH! METRICE!" he screams over and over again and when they realize she isn't going to shut up she is taken straight into the justice building.

"Some people are just so eager," the escort says looking worried.

"Okay. Now for the males," he says plucking a slip from the bowl.

"Can I have... Josh Povosk," he calls. No. It can't be Josh. Josh won't survive in there.

"I volunteer," I scream making my way out of the section and pushing my way to the stage. Josh stares open mouthed at me and is slowly escorted back to his section. The rest of the reaping is a horrible blur as I realize what I have done and soon enough I'm sitting on a couch next to Josh.

"Your Dad isn't coming in," is the first thing he says to me.

"Why?"

"He's heartbroken. I forgive you by the way."

"Thanks." the rest of the conversation goes mindlessly for me and soon enough Josh is taken out by peacekeepers. Not much longer I hear myself asking for him as my mentor and Lynette has already been placed on the train after attacking yet another peacekeeper. I've already got some competition.

**A/N: And ther's district 8. I hope you like the tributes and it would be great to see what you think. Make sure to check out the other reapings that have been updated recently if you haven't already and also make sure to vote on the poll.**

**Now review please.**


	14. Reaping District 9

**Cole Phlox Lindgren's POV:**

"Do you think he will get reaped?" I hear a hushed voice say and I instantly stop in my tracks. Are they talking about me? I slowly creep down the stairs until I can see through the crack in the door where my Mother and Father are sitting. I have a feeling it was my Mam who asked that and my Dad is now contemplating on whether I will get reaped or not.

"Possibly," he says taking a sip from the cup in front of him, "but Vivek has just as much chance as him," he adds on placing the cup back down. He's right me and Vivek are both fifteen and neither of us have taken any tesserae. Hestia my twelve year old sister only has one slip in and it sickens me that kids her age may get reaped. Well actually there is at least one person from our district from the age of seven to eleven being reaped. The Capitol don't take pity on us, because we are one of the poorest districts we have to pay by sending an extra child. Yes, districts 1, 2 and 4 are taking two extra children but they actually want to. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone single one of them were a volunteer.

I continue to listen until my Mam and Dad's conversation which consists of how much they would miss of if we were reaped and how much they feel sorry for the three sets of parents that will loose their child today. As soon as I begin to ache in the position I'm in I stand up and make quite a few stomping sounds before pushing my way through the kitchen door and giving a nice wide smile to them.

"Morning," I call. The two of them just smile at me and nod their heads. I collect my cereal (which is a very small amount) and make my way to the table where everything seems to have gone quiet. I eat my breakfast slowly and soon enough my two sisters have joined us at the table. I watch Vivek as she pours her cereal and spoons on the little spoon of sugar she always has. I try to hold my laughter in as she places the first mouthful and a true look of disgust appears across her face. She spits it out suddenly but as always manages to see the funny side of it.

"Why do you always do that?" she shouts at me referring to me swapping the salt and sugar labels around. Everyone else is smiling as usual and I just bring myself to shrug my shoulders to her. For the rest of her breakfast she is careful to eat where the salt isn't and we are told by our parents to get ready for the reaping.

Now for my second prank of the day.

I walk into my room slowly so I can see the whole action unfold. Vivek trots herself up the stairs unexciting what she will receive when she enters her room. Once again I struggle to hold the laughter in as she enters her room. I hear the shower (which is annoyingly in her sideroom) being turned on and then screams. Now for my cue. I burst into her room and slam open the bathroom door.

"Vivek are you alright?" I say in a worried voice as she wraps a towel around her. The steam soon disappears and I catch my first glimpse of her body. The colour of her skin has turned to a sickly yellow and she is failing to see the funny side.

"Thanks a lot Cole. It's reaping day as well," she says angrily wrapping a second towel round her head.

"Oh come on it was just a joke. I was experimenting," I say trying to back my case up. "It comes off your skin you know. Just use the hair dryer."

"What on Panem is the flipping hair dryer going to do?" she shouts at me.

"It just makes it go away. Trust me I know everything about stuff like this," I say defensively. She looks at me suspiciously for a bit before walking into my room, as hers doesn't have a plug and turning the hair dryer on. She plays around with the button for a bit before pressing the switch. Normal air comes out at first and true to my word the yellowness starts to fade. She smiles at me slightly and then suddenly the powder explodes out of the tiny holes all over her face. She screams again and grips onto my shoulders. We play fight for a bit as I get powder all over me as well, we seem to be having a lot of fun before Mam and Dad come in laughing their socks off.

"Go get in the shower you to," my Dad says laughing still. I let go of Vivek and we both wander off to her room to get in. Reaping morning has been a lot funnier than I expected it to be.

* * *

**Ange Parks' POV:**

I might be seven but I would like to consider myself as quite a brainy person. I know that my parents don't tell me everything but I also know that I don't want to know everything. Not yet. I don't want to know why the games have came back, I don't want to know about death because I know that death means not coming back. I've never known someone who has experienced death but surely after this 'game' I will. That's another thing I don't understand. Why are they called a game? I know a game to be something fun and if death is involved this games most certainly isn't fun.

When the games were announced to come back I remember being cradled in my Mother's arms after the twist was read out. She said there was a possibility I would be going into the game. I was happy. Again, I thought that games were meant to be fun. Then I was given a 'talk', I was told what this game involved but I refused to listen. I've been getting on well though, I've been my normal bright and bubbly self.

"Who wants their hair brushed?" I hear my Mam call from somewhere in the house.

"I do! I do! I do!" I chant over and over again very loudly. I begin to run out of my room when large arms sweep me away and I stare into the face of my brother, Faine. His blue eyes glisten in the morning light and he gives me a large kiss on the cheek before carrying me over his shoulder while I kick and scream. I might be intelligent but I'm still a child and I will still act like a child. He takes me to the other side of the house where my Mam is sitting brushing her hair. Everyone in my family has red hair apart from my Dad and I couldn't ask for a better colour. We stand out well in district 9 and everyone knows us for it.

"Come and sit down then," my Mam calls beckoning me over to the seat next to her. I run over quickly in my green dress and begin to fiddle with the white lace as she combs the brush through my hair. "You look beautiful today, Ange," she says and I turn to look into her blue eyes.

"Well you look just like me so you must look beautiful as well," I say pulling a funny grin which my Mam always pulls.

"If only I was your age still," she mumbles and I can tell she's dreamily going off into her memories. I want to ask her how old she is but it will only ruin her memories or she might not want to tell me. Instead I lift my hand up until it is close to her face and I search for the grey hairs that are starting to appear. I catch two of them with my eye and hold them gently before entwining them with other hairs. I continue to do this until all of the grey hairs are entwined within a red hair and my Mother begins to laugh.

"Yes, I am turning old," she says beginning to brush my hair again. For quite a few minutes to come she strokes the brush through my long red hair and once she is done she pulls a pair of scissors out of the nearest drawer. I try not to bother her as she clips away at loose hairs and they fall down onto my neck and shirt wanting me to itch. She blows away the loose hairs once she is done and gives me a little twirl.

"Okay Ange, I've got a little present for you," she says pulling something out of her pocket and enclosing it in her hand.

"I like presents," I say joyfully wondering what it could be. Finger by finger she unwraps the present until I see a small charm bracelet. A wide smile appears across my face and I look at it more closely. "I love it," I say overwhelmed as I stare at the delicate patterns and the loaf of bread which has been so carefully carved into the surface. "Thank you," I say blushing. Mam only gives me presents on special occasions. I know the reaping isn't a special occasion but I know I need all the luck I can get when I go there.

* * *

**Luna Rose's POV:**

"Beautiful, don't you think?" I say to my best friend Chris as I look over the landscape. I see him in the corner of my eye nodding his head and I let myself dream away (as I always do). How amazing would it be if we were aloud out of the fences to explore. I would run for miles through the lovely storms and the freshening rain. I'd experience the sun playing with my skin and the wind trying to take me to some place new. I'd be with the people I love. Chris, my Mother and Father, my brother Tyler and my little cousin Bella. They'd love it. I'd love it. Wouldn't everything love it?

Beyond the grain fields is a journey that no-one will ever take never mind me, a twelve year old girl who would like to live in her dreams. I perch myself back on a higher branch of the tree so I can get closer to the bird I have just spotted. I edge my finger closer and closer to it's blue wing and as I touch the feather it flies away gracefully. It's wings move up and down in swift motions and then it's out of sight. My eyes search for a new animal and I spot a lone rabbit on the floor. I think that Chris has spotted it as well because his head is facing gown. It's little arms and legs burrow itself a small hole and then it bounds away with a small bit of food in it's mouth. Imagine life as a rabbit or a bird. There'd be no Hunger Games. No starving. No boundaries.

"Luna!" I hear my Mother's sweet voice call from somewhere. I look to Chris who is still staring down at the floor and I gave his sandy blonde hair a quick ruffle before quickly making my way down the tree.

"See you at the reaping," I call before running through the flower gardens and making my way into my own garden where Tyler is entertaining Bella. "Who's a beautiful little girl?" I say to Bella rubbing my own nose against hers and she begins to giggle voluntarily. I repeat this a few times before my Mother appears out of the doorway and throws a silver dress at me.

"Put it on quick, the reaping is soon," she calls before rushing back into the house and calling something to my Dad. Embarrassed of getting changed in front of my brother I quickly bound into the shed and change into the dress. I throw my old clothes into a corner of the garden and my Mother comes out with my Dad and gives me a large hug.

"You'll be fine sweetie," my Dad says patting me on the back. We live quite a bit away from district 9's justice building so the walk to the reaping is quite a lengthy one full of awkward silences. I spend most of the journey dreaming about a better place but the sound of quiet talk tells me that we have arrived at the reaping. Everyone is very cramped as the seven to eleven year olds can get reaped as well but I manage to fit myself into the twelve year olds and Tyler is standing not far in front with the boys that are nine.

The mayor reads the treaty of treason very quickly trying to get it out of the way and he introduces our escort onto the stage. I shaky woman with a freckled forehead makes her way onto the stage and begins to talk in a quiet tone introducing herself as Maria Yellow. We are shown a relatively quick video and it is time for the names to be drawn.

"We'll start with the ladies," she says quietly and walks over slowly to the female bowl. My name is only in there once it won't be me. It won't be. It can't be. "Luna Rose." It is me. I pull my head down so my tears can not be seen over my curly brown hair and I make my way onto the stage. How can it be me? I'm only twelve. What if Tyler is reaped as well? Horrible thoughts flood through my head as the male is called.

"Cole Phlox Lindgren," Maria says quietly once again. There is silence for quite a bit but soon I am joined on the stage with a boy who is fifteen. His black hair is buzzed cut and his olive skin seems to be burning in the strong sunlight.

"And district 9 also have to reap a child from the age of seven to eleven," Laria says louder than she has spoken yet. She coughs a few times and walks over to the bowl with many, many names in. I hope it isn't Tyler but my heart sinks when I find out who it is.

"Ange Parks," she calls. A seven year old appears out of the crowds and walks to the stage shivering.

The escort is about to say something when Ange speaks up, "I don't understand why I was chosen... I'm seven. Why am I here?" The crowd go absolutely silent and many people begin to weep. How can the Capitol be so cruel to send a seven year old in to a fight to the death?

The three of us are taken away and are put into our separate rooms. I get to talk to my best friends, my family and all the way through they are wishing me the best of luck but it is the last person who strikes me. A boy with red hair and blue eyes walks in.

"I'm Ange's brother. Please ally with her, please protect her. Will you?" he pleads. I'm startled by his words but I manage to choke out a yes. Not much longer Ange chooses him as her mentor, Cole chooses his fifteen year old sister and I choose my Father. He can protect me. And I will protect Ange.

**A/N**: **Thanks for reading. Please review :)**


	15. Reaping District 10

**Theodore McKee's POV:**

I've grew up a great life. I was born to a loving Mother and Father but after deaths, that I can't remember, I was given to my Nana Bets. My Nana has always been a lovely woman. I've been taught by her to stand what I believe in, never back down and show people respect who deserve it. As my numbers have grew larger I have became an adventurous and funny little boy, people liken me to the Artful Dodger. They say I'm a charming young man and they say I have as much spirit as my Nana. I like to think I do. My Nana was highly involved in the rebellion when it happened. I've been told the stories many a time. She was always in contact with the people in district 13 and was always trying to arrange a way to get everyone out of the 75th hunger Games alive.

My Nana and her best friend Winnie are well known in district 10. They are both very opinionated and since the Hunger Games came back they have been trying all they can. But at the frail age of seventy five my Nana's only defense is her walking stick and against a peacekeeper she would be no match. They wouldn't be afraid to kill an elderly woman in front of the district, they'd only see it as an opportunity to scare us and show their authority.

I'm taken out of my thoughts by the voice of my Nana, "Theo," she calls her voice croaking. I turn my head to the door where she stand with her walking stick heavily pressed into the floor.

"Yeah," I say closing the book in front of me that I wasn't reading and beginning to walk over to her.

"Have a seat," she says her voice sounding too worried for my liking. "I just," she stops to cough, "need to tell you a few things." By now I can see the tears beginning to emerge in the corners of her eyes. This can't be good. I have a feeling I'm in danger. Danger. That word is one I have never experienced before, all of my life I have been happy. Playing around and joking with my best friend. I go on adventures, I watch the world go by. I try my hardest to be caring and kind and lovable. Everything I do is to avoid any danger but now I know that whatever my Nana says is going to occur me being in danger.

I take a seat back on the bed and clutch onto the book so I don't appear shaky. I turn to a random page and try to seem unphased by how worried she is but inside I'm bolting up. I'm placing reinforcements in my eyes, so I don't cry. I make all precautions so I don't seem worried before she begins to speak.

"Theo, you know that today is reaping day," she says in a very serious voice. "You also know that for the twist they have decided to reap a seven to eleven year old from four districts," she pauses to see if I'm following and I nod my head, "one of those districts is ours," she adds on getting quieter and quieter and I know I'm about to hear the killed blow that I have been expecting since she said the word reaping. "I'm afraid that there is a possibility you will be going into the games," she says crying. "The peacekeepers have arrested Winnie after finding out she was part of the rebellion and they are currently looking for me," tears now beginning to flow down her wrinkled cheeks. "If they find out you are related to me it is likely they will... reap you on purpose," and that was the thing I was expecting to hear. I wrap my arms around Nana quickly and pull her into my warmth.

"I don't want to go in," I cry. "And... I don't want you to get arrested, you've done nothing wrong?" She tries to pull me out of the hug to look into her eyes but instead I just grip tighter. Why must they do this? Why must there be the Hunger Games? Why must I go into them? Just because my Nana once tried to do what was right. If my Nana tried to do what was right then surely she shouldn't be arrested. "You've done nothing wrong," I repeat in a much more stronger tone. I pull myself out of the hug now and look into her big blue eyes which are stained with tears.

"I know sweetheart, but the Capitol don't see it that way," she says trying to keep quiet. Are they after her now?

"Well the Capitol are stupid?" I shout. Her eyes open up and at first I think she is going to shout at me for speaking bad of the Capitol when they could hear me but instead she ruffles her hand through my mop of chocolate brown hair.

"You're becoming more like me everyday," she says beginning to laugh. "You'll want a rebellion soon."

"I want a rebellion now," I say looking into her eyes to show how serious I am. I do want a rebellion now. I just need to put work into it, and maybe the games are the best place to do that. That's what happened in the 75th Hunger Games. Maybe I can organize something similar. Can I? Nana bets looks at me in a proud way and then there is a loud knock at the door. She pulls her wrinkled finger to her lip quickly and I know that I have to keep quiet.

My heart beats faster and faster at every knock and then there is knocks from all over the house. How many of them are there? We won't be able to escape. We're trapped? Nana will be arrested and I'll be going into the games. The games will make or break me. They could make me into the person who will lead the rebellion or they could break me like the Capitol want. Break me into someone who could kill. Or I could die in the bloodbath? Would that be a better option? No. I'd be dead.

But I wouldn't have killed anyone. Why am I even thinking this? I'm eleven.

It's the Capitol who are doing this to me though, forcing me into the situations I am having in my head.

The faint sound of a window smashing enters my ears and I cling onto to Nana's sleeve. There is some shouting and then stomps everywhere in the house. I cling onto my Nana further and I see here eyes moving back and forth from me to the window. No, I'm not leaving her. But it could mean my safety from the games, they wouldn't know Nana had a grandson. I let go of her and begin to walk over to the window which I realize is letting in a steady breeze.

In a swift movement I give my Nana one last smile and push open the glass. The glass next to me cracks by the impact of an unexpected bullet and I hear the voice of my captor."I would advise you to stay right there Theodore McKee." My hand releases from the glass and I turn around to see a peacekeeper's arm wrapped around my Nana's neck.

"Get ready for the reaping Theodore, you want to look good for the Capitol don't you?"

* * *

**Aurelie Lark's POV:**

"Don't you remember when we little, and we used to race each other through this field," I say to my best friend Garrick. We stand in my Uncle's cattle farm. The majority of the cattle are getting shaved right now and the few that don't need shaven are bunched together in the corner.

"Yeah," he says dreamily and I can already tell what he is going to say next, "do you wanna have a race now?" I nod my head happily and bend my legs down into a squatting position. "First one to the old tree at the bottom of the field. We start as soon as that bird sets flight," he says pointing to a small blackbird attempting to pull a worm out of the ground.

I watch the bird closely as it tries and tries to pull the worm out of the ground. I hear Garrick snigger slightly at it and suddenly the bird sets flight. I pick myself up instantly and begin to run down the field. The cattle life their heads and I laugh. I don't bother looking to where Garrick is but in stead continue running as fast as I can. It's tiring but worth it if I can beat Garrick. He's one year older than me and when we were little he would win basically every brace apart from the few that he would let me win on purpose. But now I'm about the same size as him and I know that he hasn't grew up to be the fastest at short distance. I move my feet forward and forward and finally it comes to the downhill sprint. The field slopes at a large angle and my toes begin to dig into the bottom of my shoes. The tree's features become more vivid now and I place my hands in front of me so I can touch it first. The out of the corner of my eye Garrick appears as he takes large strides towards the tree. I lose focus and trip. Mud and grass stains cover the front of my shirt and I'm quite lucky that I haven't got changed for the reaping yet. Then with one simple touch of the old oak, Garrick wins.

"Just like the old days," he says laughing at his joke.

"So that means I'll still beat you at climbing the tree the fastest," I say trying to force him into another competition.

"Oh really, I'll take this side you take that side," he says confidently. The tree is almost symmetrical on both sides and is kind of like a ladder. Just one branch after another. The only difficult part is in the middle where the branch has snapped on both sides. Well, it only snapped on my side and to make the competition fair we snapped it on Garrick's side as well.

"3...2...1," I shout and grip onto the first branch. I hoist myself up easily but see that Garrick has done the same. The next few branches are also quite easy until I get to the bit where the branch is missing. I jump as high as I can off the branch and hang on for my life. After about thirty seconds of struggling I bring myself onto the branch and climb the tree with ease. I manage to finish about ten seconds before Garrick which he doesn't seem to pleased at.

"You had the better side," he says jokingly.

"What?" I gasp. "We've made it so the sides are exactly the same."

"Yeah, but I bet you've rigged it somehow," he says suspiciously.

After a few jokey arguments we sit in silence and I can tell that we are both thinking of the reaping. After a little while I hear a few scratchings and I realize that he is drawing. Garrick is a very detailed artist and the majority of the drawings on my wall at home is ones that he is drawn. My Uncle and brothers always marvel at how good he is and ask me to get some drawings for them as well. Overall Garrick has drawn seven for me, two for Uncle, three for David, one for Rowan and two for Sage.

One picture is framed in the middle of the main room though. It is of my parents, me and my three brothers. The detail is extraordinary and he has managed to capture the correct facial expression in all of us. My parents aren't around nowadays though and that is why I live with my Uncle. My Mam died giving birth to me and since I found out I can't help but think it is my fault while my Dad killed himself shortly after. I don't remember my parents but my brothers do. They were kind and caring for us. Apparently we used to live in a butchers and we were well fed, but now we live on the cattle farm. I love the cattle farm though, although what happens to the poor animals sickens me.

"Do you wanna see it?" Garrick asks.

"Yeah," I answer quickly. He leans over the side of the tree and I see a beautiful picture. The picture is off the bird trying to pull the worm out of the ground and in the short distance I can see me and Garrick squatted waiting to start our race.

"You can keep it if you want," he says.

"Thanks," I say knowing that Garrick has no space for his drawings. His walls are covered in the things so much that his first drawing is now unseen. "You know if your reaped?" he says suddenly, "will you take it as your token?" I nod quickly and hug him.

"Not that I think you'll get reaped," he says probably thinking I thought bad of what he said.

"You won't get reaped either," I say beginning to climb down the tree. "Come on we have to go get ready."

* * *

**Harence Trailor's POV:**

"Go get ready then," my Mam says pushing me out of the room. We just had a long discussion about the possibilities of me getting reaped. Throughout the conversation my Mam was saying I wouldn't but I refuse to listen. I have a large possibility of getting reaped. I have my three slips for being the age of fourteen, I have many slips for all the tesserae I've taken out for me, my Mam and my Dad. Then I've taken out tesserae for my two friends as well. Normally that wouldn't happen but Saria and Martain don't have a home. They spend their nights living in people's garages and sheds. They're happy doing that and if they take out tesserae for themselves the people will ask for their address and as they don't have one they will put them in the community home.

I've never been in the community home but I've heard that it is a terrible place full of horrible kids who would fight and bully you every single day.

I walk up the stairs slowly and make my way into my room. My room is incredibly small so it doesn't take long to reach the wardrobe, I flick through the few pairs of clothes I have and pull out a pair of cream trousers and a white shirt. Just average clothes really but why should I try to look good if all they're interested in is sending three of us to our deaths. It has to be the lower districts that have to send a child, districts, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 get away with just sending two.

Once I'm ready I make way down the stairs where my parents wait for me.

"You ready?" my Mam says nervously.

"Yeah, let's go or we will be late," I say pushing open the front door and beginning to walk out. After locking up me and my parents begin the long journey from where we live to the justice building. We own only one animal and in stead of getting meat from it we get milk from it. So we run a small milk shop but a lot of the time I have to go out and deliver the milk for people who want it. We live far away from most houses as well so it is quite hard.

As soon as we get to the reaping I realize how late I am. I quickly run over to the sign-up desk where there is no queue.

"I'm guessing you're Harence Tralior," the peacekeeper at the desk says in an annoyed tone. I nod my head quickly and after a short blood sample I'm taken to the other fourteen year olds. I don't know many of the people I'm with as Saria is with the girls and Martain is one year younger than me.

The mayor walks off the stage as I settle down in a place and I realize that I've missed his speech.

A man with bright pink hair in a yellow suit walks onto the stage and begins to speak, "Hello district 10! I'm your escort Eric Gasener, and let's get the reaping started." He walks over to the first bowl which is the girls and plucks out the first slip that comes into contact with his hand.

"Aurelie Lark," he calls smiling. There is silence at first until a girl with long red wavy wearing a short blue long sleeved dress makes her way out of the fifteen year old section. She stand on the stage and smiles slightly before Eric moves onto the boy's bowl.

"Harence Trailor." What? I was right. With how many slips I have in that bowl it's likely. Just because I wanted to help others. I walk up to the stage slowly and stand next to Aurelie who I notice has a long scar across her cheek.

"And finally our child." he walks over to the final bowl and plucks a name out. "Theodore McKee." Poor Theo. The kid is brilliant. I have delivered milk many time and you won't find another person more adorable in all of district 10. I watch as he walks out of the eleven year olds and makes his way onto the stage. He wears cowboy like clothes and his brown hair slightly sticks out from under his hat. He has a surprising look of confidence on his face as he walks onto the stage, gives the escort a hug and smiles and waves for the cameras. It almost embarrasses me that I'm standing here almost weeping.

We are asked to all shake hands and soon I'm sitting in a room with Theodore and Aurelie is in the other. Apparently they don't have enough rooms for all of us so me and Theo have to share. The first to come in is my parents and my friends. They all apologize for making me take out so much tesserae and soon they are out of the room. I wait for Theo's visitors to come in but he receives none. How? He knows so many people? How about his Nana? And her friend? He has friends as well?

Just as I think that a girl that I vaguely remember as being called Brianne makes her way in. I hear her whisper words to Theo about his Nana and then the word 'rig'. Is it rigged? Wait. His Nana. She was involved in the rebellion? Have they found out?

"Is this rigged?" I blurt out. The two of them turn to me instantly. I notice that tears are starting to emerge in both of their eyes but they don't answer my question. Instead Theo puts his finger to his lip to indicate for me to keep quiet.

Brianne is asked to leave soon after and Aurelie joins us. We are asked who we would like as our mentors. Aurelie chooses her brother who is called Rowan and I choose my Father. Theo asks for his Nana many a time but they say she is too old to go to the Capitol. That's a lie. It's rigged. She's on her way to the Capitol now, being arrested.

"This is fixed," I say under my breath as Theo constantly asks for his Nana until he finally has to take his friend Brianne.

"What?" I hear a soft voice say, it must be Aurelie. Did she hear me? I pretend to ignore her but I know I'm going to have questions to answer.

**A/N: District 10 done. I hope you liked it and you have your first rebellious character. Thanks for reading and please review.**


	16. Reaping District 11

**Temur Samarkar's POV:**

Honour. It means a lot to me. I will do anything to preserve mine and my family's honour. So that means if I go into the Hunger Games, I can't die. People would think of not only my family as weak but my whole district. People would think that nothing has changed in the past thirty years. That district 11 tributes will always just die in the bloodbath. Not if I'm reaped. If I'm reaped I need to pull myself together. Allies can be important but they can also break you. Being stabbed in the back (literally) would ruin my family's honour, my honour and my district's honour. People would think that district 11 don't even think before they act. That district 11 tributes think that they can trust everyone. But they're wrong. We're clever and we know that these games are dangerous.

Since the games came back the mayor has been doing all they can to help us and it seems that the peacekeepers don't mind. I was told that thirty years ago when peacekeepers were around district 11 used to have terrible ones who would kill anyone that did anything in the slightest wrong. Since they were got rid of and we have been supplied with new ones and it is defiantly not the case. They are in fact quite kind and trustworthy. There has not been one public whipping and the jails have been unoccupied.

As I was saying the mayor has been helping us anyway he can. The majority of our lessons in school have been watching the Hunger Games and studying the different districts. We've learnt much about what districts are normally good with which weapons. We know which ones will think of us as weak and not pay attention to us and we know which ones know we are stronger. We have been told that it is probably easiest to ally with district 7. They are strong, handy with an axe and know the wilderness quite well. I'm not sure if I want to ally though. Once again it comes back to my honour. If my ally was to beat or even kill me in the games I would be seen as the weak one. I can't have that. I'm strong enough to do well in the games. If I'm reaped I'll run from the Cornucopia, there's no point of going in if you are just going to end up getting killed.

But I don't think I will get reaped, my family is poor I have to admit. But many other families are poorer and there is people that have to take much more tesserae than I have. I'm seventeen so like most people my age, I work. I earn quite a bit of money off work and also when I do the occasional job for the mayor and other rich residents of district 11.

I have just taken a little bit of tesserae out for my Mother as she gets weak easily. When I was seven my Mother miscarried a child and since then she has not been able to have another one. My Mother suffered from depression for a little while which caused her not to eat as much as she usually would. After that her immune system became weak and the mayor is providing special tesserae so she will get better. On the other hand I didn't have to take any out for my Father. He is a healthy man who has a lot of pride in his family. He is very like me though in the aspect of keeping our families honour intact.

I'm taken out of my thoughts by the sound of a large boom indicating that someone has died in the rerun of the 56th hunger Games I'm watching. I quickly scan the area and see a frail district 7 boy lying by the foot of the tree with a spear shoved through his throat. Spear. I scan my brain for it could be because I may be in this situation at some point. There is two people with such good aim with a spear and they are both from district 1. But the girl is injured so it could only be the boy.

I begin to jot down notes when my Father appears in the room. "Are you going to come have your reaping breakfast?" he says in a bored manner but at the same time smiling.

"What's so good about a reaping breakfast?" I respond putting emphasis on the word reaping.

"We've saved some money up so we can have something nice to eat," he says kindly.

"What is it?" I say turning back to my notes.

"We managed to get some bacon from the butchers, some bread from the bakery, some eggs which we've scrambled and they gave us a tin of beans as well," my Dad says quickly sounding quite proud. I'm quite surprised that he took the can of beans for free that could ruin our families honour. It will make us look poor, of course everybody already knows we're poor but my dad has just proved it more.

"Great," I try to say enthusiastically but it comes out more as sarcastic. I close my notepad and throw it someone underneath my bed before following my Dad downstairs. The smell is mouth-watering when I make my way into the kitchen and I snap my teeth together so I don't look like some crazed lunatic.

I look over to my Mam who is tired after making all this and the pile of washing up to do is enormous.

"I'll help wash-up after," I say but she shakes her head.

"By the time you're done eating this we'll have to get ready and go," she says gasping for breath in the boiling hot room.

"You can't be late for the reaping," my Dad says waving a fork at me, "when I was a kid and it was the 74th Hunger Games I was late and I was whipped five times before they started it."

"Yeah, but the new peacekeepers have never whipped anyone," I say thinking how horrible it must have been for him.

"Temur," my Dad says seriously. "As soon as the Capitol find out how nice the peacekeepers are being in 11 they will get new ones straight away," munching away at his bacon, "in fact they'll have new ones in for today.

They probably just didn't want to waste any fuel sending new ones but a train has to come here anyway. You know, for the reaping." He begins to put his head down and eat and after another few minutes he walks over to an old cabinet and pulls something out of a drawer.

"Hold out your hand," he says and I do. He places an tiny wooden horse in my hand, "just incase you're reaped," he says winking. Seriously? Is that how much hope he has for me? It's almost as if eh thinks I'll get reaped.

* * *

**Yogev Terrice's POV:**

After a long morning in the orchards I sit down on the small wooden bench which has been especially made for me and my best friends, Ayame and Masaki. With neither of them two here until at least ten minutes (they have to finish their shifts) I start to recall the announcement President Derisse made. When she first said about the Hunger Games coming back I had only heard of them vaguely but now I know everything about them and it truly makes me sick. How can the Capitol make kids kill each other for the entertainment?

What is even worse is that kids my age and even younger can go into the games this year. What type of sicko makes people do that? At the age of ten I would say that I no too much but so does every kid that lives in this country. I was brought up a perfectly good life. Yeah, I didn't have enough to eat sometimes but that was soon sorted out when I was six and could begin working in the orchards. So yeah, my life was fine until last month when the announcement was made. My first instinct was to try and train incase I was reaped but my parents were completely against that idea. They said I would end up like a 'career', the tributes from districts 1, 2 and 4.

I've been told that they are ruthless and kill for fun so I decided that it wasn't the best idea to train. In stead I began to build my strength up. If I'm reaped I know I won't stand a chance but maybe if I'm strong I will stay that little bit longer than everyone will expect me to. So, I have been making sure I do the jobs that work, your muscle more.

"Yogev," I hear someone call from somewhere in the orchards.

"What? Who's that?" I call out to whoever it is.

"It's Ayame and Masaki," the voice that I now recognize as Ayame calls back. Soon the two of them are sitting next to me and I notice that Ayame is making a flower bracelet like she always does.

"Why do you always have to make it so dainty?" I say looking at the easily breakable daises that she is using.

"Why? What flowers do you propose I use?" she asks sounding a little bit offended.

"Use this," I say randomly pulling a flower from the grass next to me.

"What type of flower's that?" she asks scanning the thing which is an odd yellow and black. I shrug my shoulders and begin to gather some of the same flower. I return back to my seat without about twelve of them. I hand them to her and begin to talk to Masaki who I realize has been quite left out of the conversation.

"Good day at work?" I ask casually.

Instead of answering my question he goes off on some rant on why he shouldn't work when he is only eight but then he starts to say how much he enjoys it and shuts up. After quite a long awkward silence he pulls a knife out of his pocket and if he hadn't have said yesterday he was going to bring one I would be quite shocked. Masaki is probably the least violent person I know, whenever there is a fight in school he always tries to break it apart which has served him with a few black eyes over time.

"You still haven't told us why you said you were bringing the knife?" Ayame says still binding her flowers together.

"You'll see," he says quite eagerly. He pushes me forward off of the bench without warning and begins to carve something into the wood of the bench. I watch carefully as he begins to draw strange looking shapes but as he begins to write words it all becomes quite a blur. One of my worst features, I'm afraid, is my eyesight. I do wear glasses but like most days I don't know where they are so at the moment I'm not wearing any. I continue to watch until he stops and marvels at whatever he's drawn.

" I... I can't see what that says, what does it say?" I say squinting at the wood.

"Wear your glasses and you would know," he says dumbly. He's always bugging me about not wearing my glasses.

"It says our name and then there is some shapes around it," Ayame says shaking her head at Masaki. I notice that Ayame is now sticking some sticky-jacks to the flower necklace she has made and once she has finished she places onto the bench. "Come on then we better go get ready for the reaping."

* * *

**Zaria Paska's POV:**

It might sound wrong but I was the one person in district 11 who has been hoping for the games to come back for a long time. When I was fourteen and I heard that Paylor was getting old there was rumours that the games could come back when she died. I took that opportunity to train incase they did so I could volunteer. No, I'm not some crazy career who wants to rip out other tribute's throats with my teeth but a girl who wants to save her Mam's life.

My Mam is thirty seven year old and was diagnosed with breast cancer just a few years ago. In the olden days cancer couldn't usually be fixed but now the Capitol have cures for everything. But why would they give up money to save some dirtbag from district 11? They wouldn't. That's why I need to volunteer so I can win and come back and pay for the procedure to take place. It will be worth it if I can save my Mam's life because she doesn't deserve to die. I'd say that nobody does but that would be hypocritical of me if I'm going to be killing people in just over a week.

"You going to come and help your Mam?" I hear the voice of my Grandmother call from the bottom of the stairs. I quickly slip on some jeans and a white shirt before racing down stairs. "I've volunteered to help out at the reaping sweetie so will you help your Mother," she says sweetly before walking out of the door.

I walk into the room where my Mother is. She smiles at me slightly and starts a small conversation about reaping day and how I won't get reaped. We switch the TV on but as it is reaping day the only thing we are aloud to watch is the before reaping special which shows what the presenters think the arena for this years games will be having a past victor a the gamemaker. Every now and again there is announcement to say if you are in district (then a number) please make your way to the reaping.

I rely on this for my timing and once it says it I leave the house. My Mother isn't required to go to the reaping because of the condition it was in but we did have to apply for her not to go about five times. My Mother doesn't know that I am volunteering but I'm sure she'll appreciate it.

As soon as I make my way into the square I notice that district 11 have a hell of a lot of people. I get signed in and make my way over to the seventeen year old section which is very far back because of all the children in front of me. After the mayor has walked on we are introduced to our escort; Frentin Juliop. The man is incredibly tall and has jet black hair.

"Hello district 11," he announces. A few younger kids reply to him but apart from that there is silence. "We'll watch this video then we'll get started," he says excitedly pressing a button on a control which makes the video start. It tells us why the Hunger Games are around, the badness of the rebellion and how great Panem is before turning black which indicates for him to pull the first name out.

"Ladies first," he says in a happy voice. He walks over to the bowl and swims his hand around for a bit before pulling out a name.

"Lara Twinston," he calls. A little girl appears out of the thirteen year olds whimpering and I stick my hand up.

"I volunteer," I shout. I make my way onto the stage biting my lip. Is this a good idea? Of course it is I'll save my Mam's life. There is gasps everywhere as I make my way onto the stage. "I'm Zaria Paska," I say quietly and I can tell many people in the crowd don't know who I am. Why would they? It's not like I make an effort to make friends around here.

Frentin walks over to the male bowl and plucks the first slip that comes into contact with his hand. "Temur Samarkar," he calls. Oh.. that is one person I know. Who doesn't? He's obsessed with keeping his honour intact. Criticize him and you are going to have a long statement to hear on why you are wrong and why his families honour is so important to him. He walks up to the stage in his ragid tan shirt and trousers and sakes my hand without being told to.

"Now as you know a child must be reaped from district 11 as well," Frentin says still happily. I hate him. He walks over to the child's bowl and pulls out a slip which is incredibly small to indicate the youth of the child. "Could I have Yogev Terrice?" he calls. A boy emerges from the ten year old section. I notice how tall he is for his age and when he stands next to me he is actually the same size. He seems to bend his knees a little though to not look tall and soon we are all whisked into the justice building.

In the goodbyes I only have one visitor who is my Grandmother as my Mam is still at home. The majority of the goodbye is me explaining why I volunteered so soon after she is taken out and I am put in a room with my fellow tributes. We are told we can pick our own mentors. After much consideration I pick a tall, strong adult I know of called Gert Jins. Yogev picks his father, who apparently is becoming a peacekeeper very soon as he was pulled out of his training and Temur picks his father as well.

We are soon taken onto the train where I begin to regret my decision to volunteer. But I can't. It will save my Mam's life.

**A/N: District 11 done as well. After reapings updates will be less frequent I just wanted to get them out quickly. Anyway hope you liked it and please review.**


	17. Reaping District 12

**Maisie Dox's POV:**

"If you go get me some of the plants I need now then you can go out with your friends before the reaping," my Mam says trying to bargain with me. I consider this for a bit in my head. I do want to go out with Jay and Daphne before the reaping but I can't really be bothered to treck around the place looking for plants. Wait, maybe I'll see Jay and Daphne while I'm looking for the plants.

"Yeah, I'll go. What type of plants do you want?" I ask cheerily. She holds up a finger to indicate she'll be a minute and rushes out of the room. She emerges with her large note book full of all the appointments she has today. See, my Mam is the district's most reliable healer and the amount of people that come here in one day is quite astounding.

"Okay Maisie. Could you get get me some Aloe for burn gel. Basil for stomach cramp and gravel root," my Mam says closing her book and throwing it on the patients bed. "Hurry because I said I would treat Ornth Volnur's burn as soon as I could in the morning."

I rush out of the house and head to where the aloe plants are. Luckily Daphne lives very close to them so I should see her there. After a short walk I get to the place where unsurprisingly Daphne is playing on the tree swing we made when we were little. Before going over to speak to her I pull some aloe's out and place them in my little basket.

"Hey," she calls and I hear a thud indicating she has fell of the swing. I turn my head to see her sitting on the ground rubbing her back and I can't help but laugh. "Hey don't laugh. It hurt. In fact do you think I've done something to my back, I might have you know. Last time I did that my Mam took me to the healers. Oh wait... that's your Mam. How is your Mam nowadays? And your Dad is he good to? I hope he is because they are both very nice people," she breathes for air and by the expression on her face I think she knows she is babbling again. She has a tendency to do that. She'll say one thing which will trigger her to say a next thing and it will just go on and on from there.

"You do make me laugh," I say holding out my hand to pick herself up with. She grips onto it tightly and pulls herself up before sitting back on the swing. "Where's Jay?" I ask and I instantly regret it when I see her eyes light up.

"Well, he says he's going to come and see me before the reaping but he has already been down here to watch the mockingjays," she says smiling. She sure has an obsession with Jay. Seriously, whenever jay's around she just absorbs every word he says but never listens to anyone else once and then when Jay's not around she just talks about all the time.

"How many times is his name in?" I ask to which she looks quite offended.

"You don't think he will get reaped, do you?" she says frantically holding her hand against her heart.

"No Dathne, he won't get reaped. How many times is his name in?" I ask for the second time and I receive a shrug of the shoulders.

"I don't know. Most the time he was just singing to the mockingjay's and listening to them," she says. That does sound a lot like Jay. He's actually called James but when we were eleven he heard them singing and was fascinated. He dragged us out into the woods to listen and now whenever he has the opportunity he goes and sits by the fence hear to sing and listen to them. He's been making us call him Jay for quite a while now and it's kind of just stuck inside my head.

I ask Dathne to budge along and we spend most of the time giggling and gossiping along on the swing. I wait for Jay to come but after about five minutes I realize that my Mam will be becoming restless and that man will probably want his burn gel. I say goodbye to Daphne and quickly gather some basil leaves from a nearby tree before heading back home. I'm about a one minute walk from home when I remember I need to get some gravel root as well. Gravel root really isn't too hard to find though as it is a weed. I quickly make my way down a path which has loads growing in between the cracks and gather some. Once my whole basket is full of the stuff I begin to make my way back to my house.

"How long do you want to take?" my Mam greets with me with as soon as I walk through the door. I'm not sure if she is joking or not but I can tell she is trying to hold a smile back at my shocked expression. I realize I have my mouth open and I throw the basket to my Mam. "Thanks," she says quietly before grabbing the aloe and washing the dirt off it into the sink. She begins to peel the leaves off to reveal the gel when a man walks through the door with an arm that looks quite deformed.

"Mam, I'll do that for you," I say taking the gel out of her hand as she lays the man down on the table. It's quite a simple process really to make the burn gel. I quickly gather all the gel and place it in a blender (you can just stir it), I add vitamin D and C and hit the button. I try to listen to the gel blending in stead of the screaming man behind me as she puts his arm back into place. Once it's done I place it in a sterilized jar and scoop a little bit onto a spoon. "Mam, where's Mr.. Volnur?" I call. I see her point to the main room and I walk in to see a man with dark grey hair and a large burn on his cheek. I don't bother asking how he got it but in stead walk over and begin to apply the gel.

"How old are you?" he suddenly asks which startles me.

"Sixteen, why?"

"I was just wondering if you were able to get reaped."

"Unfortunately I am. Do you have any sons or daughters who are?"

"Yes. I have a daughter who is eleven called Sae and a son who is fifteen."

* * *

**Merriet Volnur's POV:**

I wake up at a surprisingly late time and am shocked to see my little sister Sae lying at the bottom of my bed. At first I think she is asleep but it seems as soon as my breathing pattern changes her eyes flicker open and she leans towards me with open arms. I can only presume she is being like this because it is reaping day, I meet her in the middle of the bed and wrap my arms around her. We stay like that for a little while until I begin to hear her muffled cries.

"Sae, there's plenty of kids in district 12. You won't get reaped," I say shaking her shoulders.

"But I'm the oldest out of all the kids in my year," she says still crying.

"That doesn't matter. We're not poor, you haven't taken any tesserae. They'll be plenty of kids who have," I try to reassure her.

"And what about you?" she says beginning to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Don't worry about me. I won't get reaped," I say beginning to get out of the bed.

"Do you think anyone I know will?" she asks like I know all the answers.

"I'm not sure."

Suddenly she bursts into tears again, "What if Hextra is reaped?" Hextra is Sae's best friend and the two are basically inseparable. After reassuring Sae again and again and again I manage to convince her with statistics and percentages that the possibility of me, her, Hextra and even some of my friends getting reaped is not likely.

I get changed into a green shirt and some black pants before beginning to make my way downstairs where just Sae and my Mother sits. She mouths the words thank you to me for managing to calm Sae down and I sit down with them at the table. At first there is just silence and I just eat a piece of toast which has been smeared in way too much butter. I'm in no place to complain though. Some families would beg to have this slice of toast with so much butter on while others have probably never had butter in their life.

"Where's Dad?" I suddenly ask after realizing his absence.

"He's went to the healer's house. Last night his face got burnt in the mines but it was too late for them to make some burn gel so they told him to go back this morning," my Mam explains.

"Oh right, how did he burn himself?" I ask. Really my Dad has never burnt himself in the mines before in his life.

"I don't know. He didn't -" my Mam begins but is interrupted by Sae.

"Wait Dad's hurt?" she questions looking from Mam to me her black hair swaying from left to right. Although it isn't too kind we both choose to pretend we didn't hear her as no-one wants her to be crying again before the reaping. Sae doesn't even cry that often but when she knows that somebody is going to get hurt or is hurt she hates it. She's actually quite grown up for an eleven year old but sometimes just doesn't act like it.

It doesn't take long until all of us have finished our breakfast and Dad has walked in the house with some type of gel smeared all over his cheek.

"You alright Dad?" I ask casually.

"Yeah sure. Just a bit of burn gel," he says touching it slightly.

"You need to get ready for the reaping," my Mother says nodding her head towards the suit which she has hung out for him.

"Oh.. of course. Don't worry kids you won't get reaped."

* * *

**Sae Volnur's POV:**

With the amount of people that have said that I won't get reaped I am pretty convinced I won't, but that doesn't mean I don't feel sorry for the poor three people that will get reaped. I would hate it, I wouldn't stand a chance in the games. At the age of eleven I shouldn't be able to go in anyway never mind if a poor seven year old ends up getting reaped. In the games there would be an eighteen year old against a seven year old. That isn't fair. Well not of it is fair but how could they do that. Who would be cruel enough to kill a seven year old anyway? Maybe those 'careers' that some people keep talking about but I'm sure even them wouldn't kill a seven year old.

After talking to my Dad for a little bit and making sure he's alright I rush upstairs to get ready for the reaping. Without much hesitation I pull on a long gray button down dress. Why should I wear something colourful when it's more like a funeral.

"Come on Sae let's go!" I hear my Mam's voice shout from somewhere in the house.

"I'm coming," I say slamming my bedroom door behind me. I meet them outside and we walk together to the justice building which takes about ten minutes. When we get there I have to kiss goodbye to my Mam and Dad who wish me the best of luck and I'm left with Merriet.

I begin to walk to my section when he grabs my arm, "you have to get signed in first Sae." I nod my head and wait in a long line with everyone else. I see many people I know from school and with every person I wish them the best of luck and they return the favour.

"Next," a peacekeeper calls. I tell her my name to which she replies by grabbing my arm and pricking it with a needle. I frown at her as she continues to repeat the word next. Once Merriet's been signed in I give him a long hug (very similar to the one we had this morning) and then I walk to my section where Hextra is.

Although I have many friends Hextra is definitely my best friend. She is very supportive and the two of us spend as much time as each other as we can. We are quite similar in personality but the complete opposite in looks. While I have the seam look with olive skin and dark hair she has blonde hair and a few freckles.

"Here I got you some sweets," she says handing over a few bon-bons. I thank her and begin to chew quickly as the mayor walks onto the stage and begins to read the treaty of treason. He takes quite a while and shows us a video from the Capitol before introducing our escort.

"Hello district 12," she says in a voice that is definitely not joyful. "I'm Effie Trinket, your escort," she has to pause for the amount of gasps and murmurs. I don't have a clue why there is so many gasps and murmurs but I do realize that the noises are only coming from the back where all the adults stand. Like many others I turn my head to see adults whispering and peacekeepers threatening people to shut up with guns. "Okay, ladies first," she says croakily as she is quite old.

"Maisie Dox," she calls. There is complete silence as a pretty girl with dirty blonde hair emerges from the sixteen year olds. She makes her way onto the stage quite quickly and shakes Effie's hand.

"Now for the men," Effie says walking over to the second bowl, "Merriet Volnur," she says clearly and I gasp loudly. No. It can't be. He said it wouldn't be. I can't make a scene though. Stay calm. I watch as he walks past my section and joins Maisie on the stage. I feel all eyes on me but I stare at the ground. I hear Effie's heels hitting off the wood and then the tap of a nail hitting against a glass bowl. Please not me. Please not me. "Hextra Saxon," she calls.

"No," I scream loudly. No. Not her and Merriet. How? He said that they wouldn't get reaped. I turn to my left where Hextra is dizzily walking then suddenly she collapses. "I volunteer," I yell.

"No Sae you can't," Merriet yells from the stage but i've said it now. I can't let Hextra go in and I can't let Merriet go in without me. I have to be there when he... dies. But he won't. He'll live. I'd sacrifice myself for my brother.

I'm soon standing on the stage with Merriet and after shaking hand with each other we are lead into the justice building. Me and Merriet are placed in the same room and the only people to come and visit us are our parents. The majority of the time is spent crying and I know it is all my fault that they are going to lose both of their children. I say sorry a lot and soon they are lead out. Hextra apparently couldn't come because she was going to the healers with concussion.

I'll never see her again. Not unless I win anyway. But I don't stand a chance.

Later on we are said we can choose our mentors to which I choose Mam and Merriet chooses Dad. Maisie chooses her Mam who I recognize as the district's best healer and after meeting up with them we are taken away on the train.

**A/N: So that's the reapings done! Hope you like the tributes. For the chapters before the games each tribute will get one POV. I have randomly selected it and the next chapter is the train rides. The tributes who have POV's on the train rides are Kai Brookshore (4), Aurelie Lark (10), Luke Viper (2), Harabel Lucsley (4) and Sae Volnur (12).**

**Okay make sure you review and vote on the new poll!**


	18. The Train Rides

**Kai Brookshore's POV (4):**

With my Dad behind me, as my mentor, I make my way to the train and for the first time I begin to examine my fellow tributes. Are any of these careers? Chris clearly isn't seeing as he only volunteered because of some superstition. Idiot. He just wasted someone elses chances, I actually want a challenge when I come to killing these insignificant creatures. Harabel on the other hand clearly is clearly strong and can use many weapons, I presume she will be joining. And Alyssa. The girl is skilled in training and has caught my eye many a time, but she didn't even volunteer. I'll talk to her later.

As we walk to the train a peacekeeper makes sure we are not carrying any weapons before we are let on. Soon us four tributes are sitting around a large table while the mentors have been taken to a special meeting regarding sponsors.

"How do you expect to get sponsors if you don't have a mentor?" I suddenly blurt out to Harabel who is blankly staring at the desk in front of her.

"Mentors are irrelevant as are sponsors," she says in an almost robotic tone without looking up at me, "With my logic I do not need sponsors," she adds soon after.

"Well what if you have been burned or something?" Alyssa buts in quietly. Harabel lifts her head for the first time and her dark eyes stare right through Alyssa who quickly stands up to go get a drink. "Your not threatening," Alyssa says pouring herself a drink. "Your just strange."

"Strange or not it is irrelevant."

"Will you shut up with your stupid irreverent shit!" I shout at her.

"Swearing is irrelevant in this situation," she says staring at me. Her dark eyes dare me a staring competition and it is only Chris' cough that makes me blink. I send him a glare but simply find him twiddling with his thumbs. It seems that he is not up to speaking like the rest of us. For the next ten or so minutes everything is silent and the only action is the constant glares that we send to each other every now and again.

"I'm joining the careers, are any of you?" I say turning to the rest of them. I see Chris about to speak but I quickly quiet him by saying he doesn't stand a chance of joining the careers.

"Alliances are illogical," Harabel says in her annoying tone.

"You're pissing me off!" I suddenly yell at her standing up to make her feel intimidated. "There's weedy little twerps like Chris who would jump at the opportunity to join the careers and you're turning them down. You're an ass-hole."

"Your accusations are not intimidating in the slightest so I would advise you to sit down," she says and her lips turn ever so slightly up.

I'm about to lunge across the table and grab her throat when I hear Alyssa speak up, "I'll join." I shake her hand to signal that it is confirmed but quickly turn my attention back to Harabel. "So you're not making any alliance?" Alyssa says turning to Harabel who just gives her a deathly stare. "I've said already you're not threatening."

"You have simply assumed that I am trying to me intimidating and threatening to you but actually you have no proof. Therefore I have come to a conclusion that you are speaking without fully thinking things through and you are internally proved wrong," do I really have to say who said that?

"How am I internally proved wrong? It's not like I'll always be wrong," Alyssa snaps at her.

"Answering your question would be irrelevant. I would be withdrawing your weakness to other competitors."

This really makes Alyssa snap, she charges towards the girl and slaps her across the face which only makes Harabel smile more, "How do you know my weaknesses? Your weakness is that your an ass-hole who is going to die on the first day!"

"Is everyone having a lovely time?" Sea says walking through the door and if Alyssa holding her fist up to Harabel is anything to go by I think that she knows the answer.

* * *

**Aurelie Lark's POV (10):**

All that has been going through my head since I boarded the train was Harence's words that this is fixed. Fixed in what way? Of one of us being reaped? He can only mean Theo if he says it that way. Right now us three tributes have planted ourselves in the plush couches you would never get in district 10. The mentors have been taken to a meeting and our escort is... I don't know where our escort is, so we have been left to our own devices. Maybe this is the right time to start asking questions.

"What's fixed?" I say trying to look towards both of them at the same time. Theo shys away from my question pretending that I didn't hear but Harence looks towards me quite nervously. For a bit we just stare at each other in a weird tension and then he turns away. "What's fixed?" I repeat. This time neither of them look at me. "Am I talking to myself here," I say in a louder tone.

"Ask him," Harence says quietly.

"Theo?" I ask sweetly. I can't help but feel sorry for him as he ducks his head down even more. I mean how old is he? Ten? Eleven? Either way he doesn't deserve to be here?

"I don't want to talk about it," he says in that cute way.

"But I want to help you," I say because I genuinely do.

"What? Why?" he asks finally looking up to me in a baffled way.

"Because you're from my district and you don't deserve to be here, now what's fixed?"

"Wait," he says holding his arm out to me. "If you want to help me and I want to help you, can we be allies?" he says smiling for the first time. I can't resist but nod my head, it will help both of us. He's obviously going to get sponsors because of how adorable he is and I will get sponsors for helping him. "Okay then. I'll tell you but we're talking somewhere else," he says pointing to the camera in the corner of the room. I nod my head and we spend the next fifteen or so minutes looking for a room that doesn't have a camera in. The only one we can find is the bathroom which makes everything a bit awkward since I have to sit on the toilet seat while he sits on the edge of the bath.

"Okay. You know about the rebellion thirty years ago and my Nana Bets was heavily involved," he says in a whispers and pauses to make sure I'm listening, "this morning her friend was arrested after they found it she was involved and my Nana said that if they found out I was related to her they would probably fix the reaping to punish her. So when she was telling me this there was a large bang at the door and it was peacekeepers, I tried to escape but they found us. They took my Nana under custody and escorted me to the reaping. It was fixed." I can't believe it. How can the Capitol be so cruel? It's almost as if they knew Theo was around and they did the twist so he could get reaped.

I figure that the conversation is over so I open the door but he quickly closes it. "I need to tell you one more thing," he says a small smile curling up on his lips.

"And what's that?"

"I want a rebellion."

* * *

**Luke Viper's POV (2):**

"See," my Mam says tapping the screen repeatedly.

"What?" I say quite annoyed. We were meant to watch the recap of the reapings with everyone else but my Mam decided to drag me off to my room so we can review the other tributes in private. I couldn't care less about reviewing the other tributes in private though and I'm getting bored of my Mam pointing out stuff about every single tribute. I don't care about them, I know I can take them down anyway. All I'm bothered in now is making sure that a career alliance is formed. Although I'm yet to confirm with Cavail yet I think we've decided that we will give everyone a shot of joining us apart from Chris from district 4. It's not like all fifteen of us will survive the bloodbath anyway.

"I'm sick of your attitude," she says slapping my leg.

"And I'm sick of you," I say under my breath.

"What was that?" she says sternly.

"Will you not just leave it Mam? I've been on this train for an hour and you've already dragged me away from the other tributes. They'll think I'm some Mammy's boy who doesn't deserve to be in an alliance with them," I say pushing myself away from her so I'm standing just outside the door.

"I've always tried to get the best from you Luke and this is how you repay me," she says tears threatening to leave her eyes, "get out!" she shouts at me and I quickly exit the room. I love my Mam but why can't she just let me get on to my own devices. I make my way back to the main room where only Vika and Fleur's mentor (her Dad) remain.

"Where is everyone?" I ask looking around to see Fleur helping herself to some food.

"Cavail went to the back of the train and my mentor has went to the toilet," Vika says without looking at me. "Any idea who you want in the career alliance?"

"The ones who stand out are district 1 and the first volunteers from 4," I say sitting down on the sofa across from her. She is about to respond when her mentor, Connie walks into the room and they begin to talk about something. Maybe I should go apologize to my Mam? Or I can go speak to Cavail? No, they both sound like quite dangerous options. I'll go speak to... Fleur.

"Hey Fleur," I say brightly when she sits back down on the couch with an exotic drink in her hand.

"Hey, so are we in the careers?" she says in a confused manner.

"I think so. So what weapons are you good with?" I ask.

"Knives and tridents," she says smiling when suddenly her Dad grabs her shoulder and takes her into another room. Well, that was a long conversation. I seriously have no-one to talk to on this train. Unless I make up with my Mam... no I'm not doing that. I'll try Cavail.

After doubting my sanity for going to speak to the bloodthirsty thirteen year old I finally see him at the back of the train. Quietly I make my way up behind him but I have a feeling he knows I am here. Suddenly he pulls a knife out the pocket and after rubbing it along the handrail a few times I see it flying towards me. I try not to make any noise but a gasp releases from his lips.

"Know your enemy Luke, but for now I'll settle for you as an ally."

* * *

**Harabel Lucsley's POV (4):**

What is putting me in confinement going to do? I can only see it is a illogical and irrelevant? Could that stupid escort not see that Alyssa clearly had her good-for-nothing fist raised above my head. It was a rather illogical decision on her part so I decided that the best option was to smash a plate over her head. Let's be honest, I didn't smash it over her head in anger. Anger is an emotion and emotion is quite irrelevant. I smashed the plate over her head to get her to stop showing her emotion.

Really, who wants to see a girl getting all angry because I am smarter and have clearly got a better chance than her? And as for the boy, Kai, I haven't seen him make one correct decision yet. He in stead decides to waste his time ranting his unwanted fury at me. What an idiot? And as for the other one, Chris. I admire him for his silence, he is an expert in hiding his weaknesses. If allies weren't irrelevant and illogical I guess that he could have been of use. But he does have the downfall of superstition. I see superstition as caring too much, and in these games if you care, you die. Logic.

"You can come out now," I hear Sea's shaky voice say as the metal door in front of me opens slightly. I stand up and walk out of the door trying not to squint at the light which my eyes are quite unfamiliar with.

"Harabel?" she says and I turn to face her. Just like Alyssa I can tell she feels slightly creeped by my dark eyes. "Now, being the wonderfully kind, nice, lovely, beautiful, admiring, selfless person to look up to I am, I have decided to not tell anyone about the little incident that happened. But if you do it again, there will be consequences. Do you understand?"

"You put it so simply that I find it quite offensive you think I wouldn't understand," I say walking away from her. I sit down at the table where only Kai and Alyssa sit.

"Came to say sorry?" Alyssa asks expectantly.

"No. Sorry would show emotion and be irrelevant but I will come to half conclusion that what I did was slightly irrelevant," I say turning my left side of my lip up.

"Okay," she says looking at me like I'm some alien. The three of us sit there in silence for some time and then their mentors emerge from the room they have been in for a long time. Mentors are irrelevant though in my survival. They would only hold me back. Although sponsors could be helpful I know I would never get into the situation of needing sponsors.

I watch as all of them talk to their mentors like pups licking up milk. Do they not understand that whatever those people do will not help them? Imagine if I would have brought a mentor. Having no use for friends and no father I would have to choose my Mother. An emotional alcoholic wreck. In those three words I have summed up why she would be useless. 1) Emotions can not be dealt with if you want to be on the path to victory (which after watching the reapings I have now concluded that my chances of victory are 98.146 percent). 2) I do not have time for someone who is only bothered in drowning their insignificant sorrows in alcohol. 3) She's a wreck. A mess. One of my pet dislikes. Maybe if she was more like myself I would have brought her.

"Buffet," Sea suddenly screams and everyone runs to the table apart from Kai and his Father who are clearly sorting out tactics. I slowly sit down in between Alyssa and Harley, Chris' sister. After surveying the many dishes in front of me I have come to a conclusion that it is illogical for the Capitol to have such high quality food when in the districts we have next to nothing. I shakes my head in disgust and after having a few mouthfuls of a substance I do not know of I notice uncomfortable stares from Harley.

"Yes?" I say to her.

"What?" she says, "are you talking to me?" I nod my head. "Why did you say yes?"

"You were looking at me, why?"

"Because I recognize you."

"How could you possibly recognize me? You don't train at the center."

"No but I notice a cellmate when I see one." I take my time to scan the girl's face after she says this and yes it is the girl I once shared a room with when I was in the detention center. Her word 'cell' is not the right term though. She is possibly just trying to make me look bad. It was quite illogical I was put in the detention center anyway. I was apparently caught under age drinking many a time on camera when really I was just putting away my Mother's empty cans in the bin.

"You haven't changed one bit," I say realizing that the whole table has stopped eating and has turned toward the two of us. "Our conversation is not a matter of yours, if you must know I was in a detention center" I say to them calmly.

"Naughty Harabel, why were you in a detention center?" Kai asks laughing.

"Irrelevant."

* * *

**Sae Volnur's POV (12):**

My light blue dress from the reaping has now been stained many a time by my coal necklace and my fingers look just as bad. The train ride has been a long and tiring one. A few hours back Merriet decided that he would go to bed and I have been left in the company of my parents, Maisie, her mother and our escort Effie. After our large dinner and a grueling trip through a dark tunnel (I honestly thought I was going to die) we have been told that we should be entering the Capitol soon.

All of the other districts will be there by now but district 12 takes too long. I have been contemplating for quite a while now whether or not volunteering was the right thing to do. My parents will be left without a child because of me but by their loving kisses I get every few minutes I assume that they will forgive me. I did it for Hextra as well. I couldn't have watched Hextra and Merriet go into the games.

"Why don't you ally with Maisie?" my Mam suddenly says nudging me other to her.

"Why would she want to ally with me?" I say beginning to walk over to the couch where Maisie and her Mother sit. I try to rub out the black marks on my dress but in the process just make it more smudged.

"Maisie," I say in the sweetest voice I can and I get her attention. "I was just wondering if you want to ally with me and Merriet?"

"That's a very kind gesture Sae, I will definitely consider doing so," she says and I give a bright smile before walking back to my parents.

"We're here," Effie suddenly says in a not very joyful way. I know she is old now but in the other reapings that we have been watched all the escorts look so happy. As I pick myself up to look out the window I hear cheers from everywhere. There is people chanting all types of names that I recognize from all the reapings and I realize that everyone has been waiting for our train.

First the district 1 tributes emerge and I realize it is getting played on the screen in front of us. Most of them look just as bloodthirsty as they did when they volunteered and the district 2 tributes are no better. The boy that I remember being thirteen growls for affect and then the district 3 tributes walk out of their train. The two of them stand close together and smile to the crowd every now and again. The district 4 tributes are full of mixed reactions. Both the girls walk straight past and one has a large bandage wrapped around her head. The boy who is very muscular laughs along and cheers with the Capitol and the other boy seems very timid.

The district 5 tributes smile and wave and as do the tributes from district 6 and 7. The girl that tried to escape from district 8 is escorted out by peacekeepers and to make sure nothing looks suspicious so is the boy. My heart suddenly drops when I see the poor seven year old from district 9 and the twelve year old girl I remember being called Luna holds her hand.

I miss district 10 and 11 as I am told to get ready to leave the train myself and I soon find myself holding hands with both Merriet and Maisie. We walk off the train and I find my legs aching immensely, Merriet and Maisie wave with their free hands until we are with all of the other tributes. We are lead into a room which judging by all the weapons is where we will train. After arranging ourselves in district order the president walks in. Her jet black hair sticks up a strange angles and her glare sends some tributes cowering behind others.

"Hello tributes," she says casually as if we aren't going to be fighting to the death any time soon, "I hope you all like your first glimpse of the Capitol. Tonight will be the chariots in about five hours and then tomorrow you will have your first day of training. Then there will be another day of training and then your private sessions where you must impress. You will have interviews that night and then the following day you will be entering the arena. Good luck."

**A/N: Hope you liked that chapter because there was a little bit going on in different places. So next chapter is chariots with POV's from Nicky Osgood (1), Steen Klein (5), Harence Trailor (10), Lynette Caraway (8) and Lars Staal (3).**

**Okay thanks for everyone who voted on the poll I'm not putting up a new poll. So vote on it and review please.**


	19. The Chariot Rides

**Nicky Osgood's POV (1):**

As soon as the president walks out of the room everyone remains in silence apart from the little seven year old from district 9 who stands up for some reason and begins to walk over to one of the stations in the training centre. I watch intently as the girl picks up a knife and repeatedly stabs a dummy which falls on the floor resulting in the girl I vaguely remember being called Ange giggling. It seems that there is no peacekeepers anywhere to stop her and the other tributes seem unphased by her actions.

"What are you doing?" I suddenly hear a deep voice shout to the little girl. I look around for the owner of the voice and the boy from district 4, Kai, stands up. "It isn't time for training, little girl," he says clearly angered by the fact that she is training while he is not. I and several of the other tributes find it quite amusing though that Ange does not turn around but continues to kick and stab the dummy which is now leaking some sort of liquid all over the floor. "Are you listening to me?" he shouts and begins to charge at the little girl.

I see many tributes raise their eyebrows in shock as the twelve year old from district 9, Luna, picks herself up off the ground and lunges at the muscular 4 boy. "Leave her alone," she screams gripping onto the boy's shoulders. He flails his arms around helplessly and for the first time Ange looks to the situation unfolding in front of her. I'm not sure if it is just me who notices the glint in Ange's eyes at the realization of the knife in her hand.

"I'll s-stab you," she stutters walking towards the boy who cowers over her.

"What is she doing?" I hear Joanie whisper to herself which is followed by a chorus of whispers between the other tributes.

"What? And I'm scared of a seven year old from district 9, am I?" Kai says pushing Luna's fist away as it was about to strike his face. "I'd be scared of me if I was you," he says cracking his knuckles.

"You can't hit someone before the game starts," the girl from district 4 says standing up.

"Piss off Harabel."

"What have I said about swearing being illogical Kai?" she back chats. Seriously this girl is asking for a fight. Kai turns his attention off the seven year old who Luna has enfolded in her arms and in stead begins to walk towards Harabel at a quick pace. The tributes from district's 3, 4 and 5 move away from the scene that is about to enfold and Kai takes one swing at Harabel who ducks comfortably. "You can't hit someone before the game starts," she repeats and at that very moment a man with the word 'Organizer' walks into the room followed by all twelve of this years escorts.

"Excuse me Luna," the district 9 escort says quietly, "get back to your space," she says as if she is terribly offended. Luna slowly makes her way back to her place with Ange in her arms and the 'organizer' man walks in front of us.

He waits for Kai and Harabel to sit down and for everyone to hush before he speaks, "Hello tributes, as you can see I am the organizer," he says pointing at his top, "and now you are going with your escort to go meet your stylist and prep teams. I hope you all enjoy the chariots," and with that everyone is standing up and is getting lead around by their escorts.

Jerelia takes us four district 1 tributes into separate rooms where we are alone. I take my time to absorb the silence after the hustle and bustle and although I know there is probably cameras in here I begin to steal a few things. (What, it's not like they can punish me any further from sending me into the games). Well maybe when I come out as victor... but then everyone will love me so much that I won't get punished. I quickly pull a diamond encrusted mirror behind my back when three Capitol creatures crawl their way into the room. I'm not joking they are actually on their hands and knees, and I think one of them is sniffing the floor... I stuff the mirror into my back pocket with the rest of my stolen goods as the three people who I now recognize as all being girls stand up.

"Hello Nicky," one of them says graciously.

"Would you mind handing over our tools?" one of them says in an extremely high pitched voice that I want to cover my ears. Does she mean the things I've stolen? Mind you, they are the type of things you would probably use if you wanted to make someone look presentable for the Capitol

I spend the next few minutes handing over everything and then the pain begins. Waxing and cleaning and ripping and waxing and cleaning and ripping. I squeal in agony every now and again but I'm fine. I'm cool. I'm Nicky Osgood, how can't I be?

The people spend ages talking about my hair and they die it an odd ashen colour. My eyelashes are deemed too long so are shortened down and whatever hairs I was once proud of growing off the end of my chin have now being shaved off.

"Okay, you're ready to meet Kilo now," one says and they walk out of the room only to be replaced by a man with long blue hair wearing a casual black suit.

"Chariot time," he says holding up a packet full of dozens of jewels. I'm soon changed into a completely white robe and all the different jewels are thrown all over me. Seriously at times like this I really wish that was born in district 2.

* * *

**Steen Klein's POV (5):**

"You know what Steen," my stylist, Jeneva, says to me while tapping her perfectly manicured nails across her chin, "as soon as I knew I had got district 5 I was overjoyed. You know why? Because they're always dressed so badly. Circus freaks. That's what you always look like. So I thought for a long time about your district's industry, power. What has power Steen?"

"A...," I say not wanting to say the wrong thing. In the end I just close my mouth and let her explain whatever the answer is.

"The Capitol Steen. The Capitol has power. Yes, not the type of power that your district makes, but still it's power. So why not dress as the Capitol, I thought," she says smiling.

"But, how can you dress as the Capitol?" I ask while still smiling.

"Well that's a good question Steen, how can you? Well maybe you can wear this," she says pulling an enormous robe from behind her back. The robe itself is a boring grey colour but it has models of buildings sticking out in perfectly assigned places. It resembles power perfectly. I marvel at the outfit for sometime before I realize that she is also holding up a picture of our chariot. It is shaped like a normal chariot but around the outsides there is pictures of many different buildings and also small models of Capitol people.

"It's perfect," I say smiling still. It is though. Imagine how much the Capitol will love this outfit. It's their home. It's what they want to see.

"Well, thank you Steen that is very kind of you. Isabelle will be dressed in a similar outfit to you and I would like you to wrap your arms around each other to show unity."

"But.. Isabelle has a boyfriend," I say cautiously to which she laughs.

"I'm sure Isabelle's boyfriend will let such a minor affection be allowed. I'm sure he'd want her to get sponsors while she is fighting to the death," she says still laughing a bit.

"Okay," I respond quickly and flash a smile at her.

"Okay Steen, if my calculations are correct the chariot ride is in three and a half hours. So, I'd like you to go and get ready in this outfit then come back here for further accessories when done," she says handing me the outfit and pushing me in the direction of the changing room. I take my time walking to the room and once I'm in I get changed as slowly as I can (I want to spend as less time in this outfit as I can. It looks extremely uncomfortable). After about ten minutes or so I emerge from the room wearing the robe. Jeneva's smile assures me it looks great.

"It looks a bit... odd. I mean my face and feet just being skin."

"What do you want scales?" she says laughing, "no that would be district 4. We've got silver paint for you, don't worry."

"Thanks," I say quietly but loud enough for her to hear.

"Okay, come here," she says suddenly waving about a black marker pen. I walk over slowly again and she begins to write something in large letters across my chest. Once she's finished I read it and it says 'We supply the Capitol's power and they apply the power.'

"Huh?" I say not really understanding.

"Don't worry about what it says, just know that it will go down well with the Capitol. Trust me Steen, after this parade you and Isabelle will be the ones getting in the most sponsors."

* * *

**Harence Trailor's POV (10):**

"Okay, so your angle in the chariots is going to be the fatherly figure. Theo will sit on your lap while you have one arm wrapped around Aurelie. You'll look like one old cowboy family," my stylist, Kut, says excitedly while clapping his hands.

"But that will look like I'm going in an alliance with them," I say pulling my hat on.

"And..."

"I'm not. They're going in an alliance together. I'm doing this all by myself," I say quite angrily.

"Doesn't matter. You'll get sponsors for looking after such a cute kid, as long as you act like your going in an alliance with him it will be fine" he says looking at the watch on his wrist, "now come on you have to be in the chariot room in fifteen minutes," he says pulling me by the cuff of my outfit down a set of stairs and soon I'm standing next to my chariot which has been painted like a cow's skin.

I look around, quite nervously, at all the other tributes beginning to make their way into the room and I can't help but think how original their outfits are compared to mine. I'm basically just dressed as a cowboy with the boots and hat. I lean against my chariot and watch as the district 9 tributes make their way into the room. They are dressed in grain. The two girls have long flowing grain dresses and the boy is wearing a neat blazer which has been scattered with grain. Although they don't look too amazing just like that, the chariot is something to marvel at. It looks to be made completely out of grain with not one sign of any metal while above them grain floats around. Seriously, I'm impressed.

Most of the other tributes begin to file into the room as well and Aurelie and Theo come in together. Aurelie is dressed very similar to me only instead of baggy trousers she is wearing leggings with cow skin patterns on. Theo on the other hand looks great. Everything that he wears is a little too big for him which is making him look very cute.

"Are you going to go along with the angle?" Aurelie asks hopefully to which I nod my head. She smiles and gives me the thumbs up before picking Theo up and placing him in the chariot. The two of them are very friendly with each other and since Theo told her about how he was rigged to go in they have been in an alliance, which I have not been invited into. I'm not sure if I want to be in it or not though, like I said to Kut - I want to do this on my own.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Aurelie's hand as she hoists me up into the chariots. I make my way over to the edge and sit down staring at the district 7 tributes. The two of them are dressed as trees with large leave head dresses. This is the first time I've properly managed to have a look at my competition. After seeing the reapings on the train I know that the careers are quite tough, but they can't all survive the bloodbath. I hope as little people as possible survive the bloodbath, that just makes the task easier for me. Then I come to the decision of whether I will kill or not, it's a hard choice to make when you re put in a situation like I'm in. I guess I could avoid killing until the last two then take them out.

"Could all tributes please enter their chariots," a loud speaker suddenly calls. There is a lot of hustle and then the Panem anthem begins to play. "Welcome citizens to the chariot rides. Here you will manage to see the tributes in their classiest form. They have been adjusted to impress you, as this games is for your entertainment." Who does this idiot think he is? For their bloody entertainment. If I could see him right now I'd give him a right hook to the jaw. "So could you please give a loud round of applause for our first tributes from district 1," he calls and begins to read out their names.

Suddenly a large screen appears and we can all see the district 1 tributes who look outstanding. They are basically just wearing robes covered in many different luxurious jewels. The four of them smile and wave to the crowd and the two boys begin to flex their muscles while the girls pretend to be impressed.

The district 2 tributes are very similar only they are dressed like warriors. They all carry some type of weapon and the girl who I remember being called Vika pretend to be fighting Cavail with a mace. As the chariots roll out one after another I place Theo on my lap and he begins to speak to Aurelie in hush whispers. But I have good hearing and I'm almost certain I heard the word rebellion.

* * *

**Lynette Caraway's POV (8):**

Is there nothing I can do to ruin this for the Capitol? They seem to be having so much fun watching the tributes come out in their chariots. They laugh hysterically at the district 7 tributes who are dressed as trees and I know that I'm next. The thing that disgusted me the most was when they said we had been adjusted for their entertainment. How is this entertaining? How is any of this even happening? And again what can I do to ruin this for the Capitol?

As I hear the commentator talking about the district 7 tributes I scan my outfit for something, anything that can ruin this whole parade. Then a glimmer of hope hits me when I see the pot of needles and pins which have been delicately placed on the edge of the chariot to show our insdustry. I quickly lean over and snatch the needles.

"What are you doing?" I hear Collin's voice say hesitantly.

"Ruining this whole parade," I say excitedly. I lean over the edge of the chariot and stick the pins and needles into the wheels. The horses will find it hard to drag a chariot which has flat tires. "Take these and stick them in the wheels," I say to Collin as he is on the other side.

"No, I'll get punished," he says quickly.

"Do you not think you're punished enough with being sent to the death?" Without hesitation this time he takes the pot out of my hand and begins to stick the pins into the wheels. This can't go any better, the Capitol will be disgraced by the failure in the chariot ride. If I can do anything for a slight rebellion I will.

"Look," Collin suddenly says pointing to the pair of scissors resting on the edge of the chariot as well. Yes! I quickly grab the scissors and cut the rope quic kly which attaches to one of the two horses. Now, one horse is going to go wild running about the place and the other will have to drag a chariot with flat wheels by itself.

"And now for our district 8 tributes," the commentator says. The shutter in front of us suddenly opens up and me and Collin flash large smiles. In the next second everything goes wrong. One horse begins to pull the chariot but in stead ends up running along the pathway clashing with the district 7 chariot. When this happens the creature goes crazy running into the crowds of people. Screams ring thorough the air and the horse escapes through an exit into the streets of the Capitol. Meanwhile the other horse begins to pull the chariot by itself with little success. It struggles and a horrible screeching sound causes it to give up. It walks slowly and suddenly the chariot topples over leaving me and Collin sprawled on the floor.

Now it's time for me to go crazy.

Peacekeepers rush over and pick us up and I begin to scream at the man. "You bring us here and we expect to be treat well. The two of us try for sponsors but all we get is a faulty chariot and a mad horse. Was this planned? Were you punishing district 8 especially?" The peacekeeper looks worried at my sudden outburst and we are solemnly told to walk to where our space would be while our chariot is taken to a skip. To be honest this couldn't have gone any better, all eyes are on me and Collin as we walk to our space.

Everyone will feel sorry for us and the Capitol will be a laughing stock. Maybe we'll even get sponsors. It takes a while and my feet are sore but me and Collin stand in a space marked with the number 8 and the rest of the chariots begin to make their way in. The district 9 tributes look beautiful with grain everywhere and the district 10 tributes look like a family with the little boy sitting on the older boy's lap and the girl wrapping her arm around him. District 11 and district 12 are nothing special and then the president begins to speak.

"Welcome tributes," she says boldly, "sorry for that little mishap but mistakes happen. We hope you have enjoyed your first day in the Capitol," she adds on happily and begins say the rules of the games.

"Finally. This games will be full of many twists and turns and here is the first. Two tributes are now going to be drawn, reaping style, to have a one to one battle in an extremely small arena on the morning of the games.

One tribute will die here and the other will enter the arena with the other thirty two tributes. We will have one boy and one girl." WHAT?

* * *

**Lars Staal's POV (3):**

Two glass bowls rise in front of her and in each is seventeen slips. My name is on one of my slips and the strange fear I had at the reapings comes back. Maybe it will be better if I'm reaped here though, I'll have e experience of killing. But then what if I'm placed against Jesseca; my ally.

"Ladies first," Derisse says evilly snatching a slip from the girl's bowl. "Ruby Dazzle," she says loud and clearly. There is a short gasp from the district 1 chariot and the crowd burst into applause. I certainly don't want to get reaped now. To be placed against Ruby would be certain death. "Congratulations Ruby from district 1. And now for the men..." she trots over to the male bowl and plucks a slip of paper.

"Temur Samarkar," she says loud and clearly and I feel Jesseca pat me on the back. At least it's not me but this kid is certainly dead. Everyone turns around to look at the boy who stands up firmly. All eyes turn back to the front as Derisse begins to speak again. "Congratulations to Ruby Dazzle of district 1 and Temur Samarkar of district 11 who will face off in a pre-arena game."

Suddenly the chariots pull away and do one more lap of the path before making their way back into the room we were in before. I pull off the uncomfortable wires and look towards the district 1 chariot where Ruby is staring at Temur. Soon enough we are aloud out of our chariots and our prep teams and escort come rushing over. We are chorused with 'well done's' and then lead to our rooms. We are conveniently placed on the third floor and without any dinner I head to my room.

"Lars," I hear Jess' voice say, "can I come in?"

"Yeah, the door's open." Jesseca walks in wearing a bright yellow top and purple leggings. She sits next to me on the floor for a bit in a weird silence until she finally breaks it.

"The twist was a shock."

"Well, you better get used to them because they'll be a few to come."

"Who do you think will win?"

"Ruby."

"Same."

"Do you want anyone else in our alliance?" I ask kind of hoping she hasn't.

"No."

"I'm going for a cigarette," I say pulling one out of my pocket and stuffing it in my mouth.

"Lars," Jess says in an angry tone, "you're not going to have cigarettes in the arena so you may as well get used to not having them now."

"I'm stressed, I'll have a cigarette if I want one."

"And it will lead to the death of you." she says quietly.

"What in the arena? Or after? You don't seriously think I'll get out of here."

"Well you've got a better chance than me," she whispers a tear trickling down her cheek.

"Have more hope," I say walking out of the room and taking the elevator up to the roof. I've already been up here for a cigarette because this is where I found them. I take puffs on my cigarette for some time before I hear small footsteps.

"Leave me alone," I say solemnly thinking that it's Jess.

"Who are you?" replies a little voice. I turn around quickly and see the little child from district twelve.

"I'm Lars, from district 3," I say trying not to look the girl in the eye. How can she be here? "You shouldn't be here," I add on taking another puff of my cigarette.

"And neither should you," she says snatching the cigarette out of my mouth and stamping on it. "Smoking doesn't do you any good," she says. Wow, this girl is witty for a child of what? Ten? Eleven?

"You should be going to bed, it's late," I say a little angry that she crushed my cigarette.

"So should you," she says in a cheeky manner before skipping off to the elevator. How could I kill someone her age? Winning this game could turn out to be impossible.

**A/N: I hoped you liked the chapter, a good twist? Did you like Lynette's plan. Okay next chapter is the first day of training with POV's from Yogev Terrice (11), Isabelle Rayner (5), Temur Samarkar (11), Luna Rose (9), Christina Grant (6) and Maisie Dox (12). **

**Please review!**


	20. Training, Day 1

**Yogev Terrice's POV (11):**

"Welcome to training," a dark skinned woman wearing completely white announces to us, "here you can try out the skills and weapons you will use in the games but I warn you not to avoid the survival skills. We have trainers who will provide help when you need it and through the day we will provide challenges for you. Off you go." The woman walks up a set of stairs to where the gamemakers are speculating us and jotting down notes. For a minute or so I just stare at the woman who has simply told us what we must do. She has treat us like we are her's to do what she wants with. And as I look round at the trainers they barely seem willing to help us out. I can see one woman filing her nails while the boy from district 6 attempts to throw a spear but it clatters off the ground. Do they not realize that if we want to survive we will need their help?

I take the next few minutes scanning the other tributes. It seems that so far not many alliances have been formed but this is the pace to do that. Most tributes are scattered around at different stations apart from the tributes from district's 1 and 2 and the beastly boy from 4 who have crowded together at the knife throwing station. They must be deciding who will make it into their alliance and who won't because having ten tributes in an alliance is way too much.

After watching the careers split into one group of four and one group of six, I finally decide to head over to the small swimming pool. If there is any water in the arena I won't stand a chance so I have to try it out. After exchanging my clothes for a set of swimming trunks I dive into the icy cold water and begin to flail my arms around so I can stay above the water. I begin to calm down and with a few motions I realize that swimming isn't so bad. Well, I'm not good at it but I can atleast move myself through the water quite easily.

I pause for breath when suddenly someone comes flying through the water until they are right next to me. Judging by the amazing swimming ability I'm guessing he's from district 4 but it definitely isn't the beastly boy. I paddle myself a bit away from him and as soon as he ruffles his hair about I realize he's Chris Octavian.

"Hi," I say but water goes into my mouth and I begin to choke.

"Hi, do you want me to teach you?" he says with a large smile on his face. What? Why would he teach me? If he teaches me that would be him giving me a better chance.

"Why would you want to help me?" I ask quietly.

"Because you don't deserve to be here."

"Neither do you," I respond quickly.

"I volunteered, didn't I," he says with a funny smirk on his face.

"Why did you volunteer? You're not a career?" I ask pointing over to the two groups and he begins to laugh.

"No I'm not a career and I volunteered because I'm a stupid superstitious idiot," he says pounding himself on the head jokily. "One second," he adds on before gliding off through the water. It's almost graceful how he can move so swiftly through the waters. "Anyway, do you want me to teach your or not?" he says again to which I nod my head.

The next half an hour or so are spent with Chris until I finally manage to move my arms forward while going at a decent pace. "It'll do for the arena," he says shrugging his shoulders once we get out the pool.

"Thanks," I say happily, "have you made an alliance yet?"

"Nope, you?" he shrugs his shoulders unnecessarily.

"No, well I was planning on allying with Temur from my district but he's probably going to die before the games even begin thanks to that twist..."

"Well we can be short-term allies, if you like?" he asks in a hopeful way.

"What do you mean by short-term?" I ask quickly.

"Like if we see each other in the arena we'll ally," he says. I run through the possibility in my head of how scared I would be to see another tribute but then how happy I would be to find out it was just Chris and we would ally.

"That's cool," I say perking the glasses further up my nose that the Capitol provided for me. "If I make it past the bloodbath."

"You'll make it past the bloodbath," he says hitting me on the shoulder.

"Hopefully," is all I can say, even if I do make it past the bloodbath what are the chances of a ten year old winning the Hunger Games?

* * *

**Isabelle Rayner's POV (5):**

For too long now I have been resisting the urge to tell Steen about his Dad and after making an alliance with the boy it's becoming quite hard. For the majority of this morning we have been learning survival skills and I can happily say I can now identify edible plants and edible berries. Steen on the other hand can only identify edible plants but it doesn't matter since I will be able to tell him in the arena what to eat and what not to. Right now, we have decided to move to the sword station where neither of us can really get the hang of the sword.

"It doesn't matter, I can just use my bo staff," he says smiling. For some reason he persists on carrying that stick thing around with him even though he and I both know that he doesn't need it to walk.

"Steen, you're not aloud to take a bo staff into the arena, it's classed as a weapon," I say.

"I know, I'll get it as a sponsor," he says still smiling like his Father always does. Why does he keep reminding me of his Dad? And does he seriously think that someone is going to sponsor him a bo staff? Unless he actually goes up to someone and says, 'Sponsor me a bo staff in the arena please', but then Capitolites probably won't even know what a bo staff is. Mind, I didn't until he gave his long explanation last night.

"Well incase you don't we'll carry on trying to learn how to use a sword," I say trying to sound reasonably happy. To be honest though it is quite hard to stay happy when I know that I'm going to be sent into an arena to fight to the death against all these people I'm surrounded by. It's even less encouraging to see the career packs prowling around and looking at me like I'm something they've just scraped off their shoe.

"You're pathetic," I hear a voice say and I turn around ready to slap Steen when I realize that it wasn't him who said it. In stead I'm stood face to face with none other than Kai from district 4. Now, I've only had a few glimpses of the boy and I already know I despise him. The way he spoke to that seven year old girl yesterday disgusted me.

"What I'm pathetic? I'm not the one that's been training myself to kill people," I say walking closer to him. "I'm not the one who volunteered for a death match," I add pushing him slightly with my hand. "I'm not the one who threatens seven year olds," I shout a little. "And finally I'm not the one who is calling someone pathetic because they can't handle a sword."

"Who do you think you are 5?" he says pushing me hard.

"First of all I think I have a name which is Isabelle (call me Izzy if you want) and second I think I'm a normal girl from district 5 who just wants to go home," I say smiling at the boy. He's pathetic.

"I'd like to see you say that to me in the arena," he say through gritted teeth before pushing me to the ground.

"There, there, why don't we all just calm down and try to get along?" Steen suddenly buts in helping me up from the ground. He looks at Kai in his normal way and gives him a funny smile before walking away with me.

"Watch out district 5 because I'll be coming after you's in the arena," Kai shouts after us but we manage to calmly make our way to the bow and arrow station where the only other person is the boy from 9, Cole. Out of pure anger of being pushed onto the floor I pick up the bow and arrow and send one towards the target. To my delight, embeds itself in the target and a smile rises upon my face.

"Can you show me how to do that?" Cole suddenly asks then pulls his hand up, "no, you don't have to. You don't want to go helping others that you're going to end up fighting against."

"No, I would help you but I don't actually know how I did it," I say staring at my hands in stead of him, "I guess I was just angry. Sorry."

"It's okay," he says looking reasonably happy still. "Have you's made an alliance?" he says pointing from me to Steen.

"Yeah, we figured it would be better, have you made an alliance with your partners?" I ask scanning the room for the two youngsters.

"No," he hesitate before carrying on. "They're only little and I don't want to get too close to see them ripped apart from me." He's right, but it's the same with anyone. I don't want to get close to anyone to see them ripped apart from me but Steen is a different matter. I barely know the boy yet I feel like we are closer than two peas in a pod, I know everything about him but he knows nothing about me. I simply nod my head to

Cole and an urge of asking him to join our alliance is wiped away by his last words.

In stead I shoot a few more arrows before deciding what I must do. It is the only thing that will settle my worries and maybe Steen will see me as much as I see him. "Steen I need to tell you something," I suddenly blurt out. He walks over clutching onto his bo staff tightly and once Cole has left I begin to speak. Now he'll know the whole truth.

* * *

**Temur Samarkar's POV (11):**

It pains me to watch everyone else in this training centre as they make alliances because I know that making an alliance for me would be pointless. I've been condemned to death before the death match begins, all thanks to this new 'twist'. Before that I had confidence, I wanted to protect my families honour but now I wonder why I had confidence when I was being placed against thirty three other tributes willing to kill me. Now, as I will be placed one on one against Ruby all realization has dawned upon me and I have spent the majority of my training centre dwelling over my thoughts.

At points I have thought that maybe I should train and maybe I would stand a chance but then something inside me dies when I see Ruby handling a knife or a sword. At the moment Ruby is not doing anything but glaring at me and as much as I want to glare back I only think that she will make my death more painful.

"Temur," I suddenly hear somebody call and I look around until I see Zaria's face. The girl beckons me over with her hand and as much as I don't want to go over, I do. Once I'm standing next to her she starts to speak,

"What's going on?" she asks frustratingly.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You. You used to be all up for keeping your families honour and all that shit but now you've just give up, pull yourself together," she says sternly.

"What's pulling myself together going to do? However much I try, Ruby will always defeat me."

"Not if you can get the weapons."

"What do you mean?" I ask quickly because the hope in her voice was reassuring.

"It's a one on one battle, it's not like they will shower you with weapons. There's most likely going to be two and if you are fast enough to get both of the weapons, you'll stand a chance," she says smiling quite evilly and for the first time I wonder why she is helping me? I've heard the reason why she wants to get home, so she is in no position to start making friends or maybe she just wants me to take out a good competitor. That's right. She's doing this for her not for me. She's using me, giving me tips and then when it gets to the actual games she'll just slaughter me like she will with everyone else. So that's her plan in these games, use people then kill them. Fair enough it's a good idea but if I manage to get out of this battle I'll make sure I'm as far away from Zaria as I can get.

"Thanks," I say after a short silence. "I'm going to go practice with a sword," I add on before wandering off to the station where the district 7 girl is. The girl slices away at dummies heads before lodging the sword where it's heart would be. She looks quite happy at herself before wandering off to the climbing station where she has been spending most of her time. Seriously, in between my thoughts this morning I have managed to analyse the tributes pretty well and I have figured out that the girl is a daredevil. She has been swinging from ropes on the ceiling and positioning ones in dangerous positions. I'm not sure if she is just trying to impress people or whether she is doing it for the thrill (the smile on her face tells me it's for the thrill).

"Do you need any help?" I hear a strong Capitolite voice ask.

"Mmmm, I'm okay," I say quite awkwardly before picking up the reasonably heavy sword and slicing it at a few dummies. The voice mumbles a few things while I'm doing so and after I realize that they are not especially good comments I let him show me how it is done.

After a short lesson and a little chat, I feel that if there is a sword in the one on one battle I may have a chance.

* * *

**Luna Rose's POV (9):**

"Could all tributes please make their way to the battle station," a loud speaker suddenly calls and I drop the knife that I was ready to throw at the target. I quickly turn around and grip onto Ange's hand before making my way to the battle station.

The battle station has been hidden for the majority of training but now as a curtain rises I can see that it is set out like a boxing ring full of different weapons. Their is random dummies placed around the ring which have weapons themselves and as I look up I can see buckets which will certainly surprise some of the tributes. As all of the tributes begin to gather, the career tributes rub their hand together in delight while others have fear written all other their faces. I can feel Ange's hand shaking slightly but I wonder if it is mine.

"Okay tributes, this is the battle challenge," the dark skinned woman we met this morning says. "Here you will be put into a battle with these dummies, there will be obstacles to pass and to complete you must win the battle. Everything will make sense when you get in there and don't worry no-one else will be able to see you," she says smiling. "Okay, so we'll start with district 1 and go through to district 12, as soon as you have completed you battle make your way to the hall where you will have lunch," she says this bit in a much more serious manner. "Can I have Ruby Dazzle, please," she calls.

The girl, who has been drawn for the twist, makes her way into the boxing ring and ties her long brown hair back so it's not in her way. She manages to give us all a wicked grin before the curtain drops down and we all hear the fight begin. She screams every now and again and the slashes of a sword can be heard and not before long Joanie Greenwood is called in. She, as well as the other district 1 and 2 tributes complete the challenge fairly quickly but thing start to slow down a little when Jesseca Mira goes in.

"Will they make it easier for me, you know 'cos I'm younger?" Ange sweetly asks while pulling on my training outfit.

"I'm not sure," is all I can say but I know they won't. Things are going to be just as tough for Ange in the arena so they aren't going to make things easier for here. If only the games hadn't came back, I would have had a great life. I was living a great life until a month of so ago.

"Lars Staal," the speaker calls. The boy walks out quite coolly and completes the challenge in a quicker time than some of the career tributes did. The district 4 tributes also complete it quickly and the district 5 tributes do reasonably well. Christina walks in next with a small smile on her face. The screams are extremely loud and it seems to go on forever. Are they trying to scare us? I doubt she is even screaming that loudly, they're probably just projecting it louder so we become afraid before we go in.

For quite a while I zone out and it's the sound of my own name called over the speaker which makes me realize that it is my turn. Ange squeezes my hand once before I walk around the curtain and see the boxing ring. It looks exactly the same to when I first saw it and you would think that I was the first tribute to try out the battle. I look around for a sign of any human life but there is nothing so I just make my way into the boxing ring and scan the weapons for which one seems easiest to use.

After a little bit of arguing myself I pick up the mace and a timer suddenly flashes in front of me, counting down from ten. As soon as the timer reaches five the dummies double in number and suddenly they all carry a weapon. Now, six dummies stand in front of me and my heart is beating at a million miles an hour. How on earth do they expect me to survive this? My care-free attitude is suddenly replaced by fear of everything around me. Sweat drips down my cheeks as it reaches zero and I swing my mace as fast as I can towards the dummy with a sword. In one swift movement it's head falls off but it's bodies begins to move and in the moment I kick it as hard as I can sending it toppling into another dummy.

There is a few screeches and I lunge for the sword that I see the dummy dropped while swinging my mace at the same time. A few second later I take a chance and release my mace and to my delight I find it lodged into the stomach of a dummy. A small smile rises on my face as I realize I have taken half of the dummies down in a matter of seconds but it is quickly wiped off when a knife skims my legs. They can't do that. They can't hurt us before the games even begin, that's not fair.

I lodge my sword into the dummy who threw the knife and after picking up the knife I slash the head off another. I'm really beginning to get the hang of this, aren't I? I quickly grab my mace from the dummy and bring it down onto the final dummies head without any hesitation.

"Congratulations Luna Rose," the speaker says and without any warning a final dummy emerges from the floor. I pick my mace up confidently and to my shock a bucket full of water smashes off my head. I fall to the ground underneath it and the dummy slashes at my face with it's knife. How could I forget about the buckets? I saw them before.

Absolutely soaking I swing my mace at the dummies legs and it crashes to the floor trying to move around.

"Congratulations Luna Rose, now go to the remake centre where your injuries will be fixed," the speaker says. Seriously, they can just injure us and then fix us. I have a feeling I will be experiencing a fair bit of pain over the course of today and tomorrow. Not forgetting the pain in the games, of course.

* * *

**Christina Grant's POV (6):**

After getting dried off and my many cuts and bruises fixed I walk into the lunchroom where all the careers glare at me. I realize that quite a few tributes from districts behind mine are hear before me so I must have taken a hell of a long time getting fixed up. Did I really do that bad? I defeated the dummies didn't I. Well... I was knocked out by one of them for a little bit and got concussion but other than that I did pretty good. I also was talking to the stupid Capitolite for quite a bit that was fixing me but that was just 'cos they were interested in what district 6 does. Wait, why were they interested in what district 6 does? OR were they just trying to distract me?

After realizing I've been stood in the same place doing absolutely nothing I walk over to the trays where I pick up a few oranges and some apple juice. I quickly scan the tables but realize that every single one of them is full and I won't be able to just sit on my own. I'd sit with Apollo, but he's a bit weird. He seems to regret everything he says and before he says things he thinks about it for too long, which creates too many awkward silences for my liking.

Well, I can't sit with the careers either since they are looking at me like I'm their prey to do what they want with and to be quite honest who would want to sit with those self obsessed arse-holes. Once again realizing I've been standing still for too long looking quite gaumless I decide to sit on a table where the district 7 boy is, Guire (I think).

"Hi," he says instantly and a small smile comes across his face. The first thing I notice are his dark blue eyes and his strangely long eyelashes for a boy but to be honest he is quite good looking. His tanned skin and toned body make him look much cleaner and healthier compared to most of the tributes that are here.

"Hiya," I respond lately and now it is his turn to look at me. "I'm Christina," I say holding out my hand for him to shake.

"I'm Guire, from district 7," he says clutching onto it and giving it a firm shake. "So," he says quite awkwardly and I giggle a little bit, "are you liking it here in the Capitol?"

"Yeah, it's okay. I don't have the worries of looking after my sibling while my Dad's at work but then again I do have the worries of not knowing what they're doing," I respond with a small smile on my face.

"Same here, I've got three siblings and I'm quite protective of my youngest sister," he says sweetly.

"Do you think you'll see them again?" I suddenly ask but regret it instantly.

"Hopefully," he sighs, "I just don't want to come out of this arena not being me. Yeah, I realize that I'm going to have to kill if I want to survive but I don't want to change, do you know what I mean?" he says an unsettled look now planted onto his face. All I can do is nod my head and reflect on his words. I've been so set to come out of that arena alive that I haven't even thought about the others in this arena. How can I kill someone when I know that they have a family back home to go to? I'm just going to have to tell myself that my life is more important. Is that the right thing to do? Guire's right though. Whether I leave this arena in a wooden box or not I want to know that I've done as much as I can to still be me.

"Do you want to ally?" Guire asks quietly. "I mean like, we seem quite similar and I think we would be useful to each other in the arena."

"Yeah," I say nodding my head. Wait? Am I agreeing with him? "It would give us a better chance," I wasn't even planning on allying but now I have made a firm ally with someone I would never expect. If anyone I thought I would ally with my district partner or the little kids but not Guire.

"Do you want anyone else in the alliance, or not?" he asks.

"I don't mind, anyone you've got in mind?" I say smiling slightly at my use of words.

"I think we should ask the district 12 girl, Maisie Dox. She seems to have great survival skills by what I've seen and by the way she identifies plants I have a feeling that she might be a healer."

"We'll ask her," I say nodding my head. Maybe I might go far in these games but winning is a different story.

* * *

**Maisie Dox's POV (12):**

As soon as lunch finishes I rush back over to the survival stations where I had almost finished identifying the berries that are edible and the ones that are poisonous. I have spent most of training at the survival station and I think I've proved to anyone who has even walked by how skilled I am at survival.

Maybe someone will even ask me to be their ally. I mean, Sae already has and I am willing to be Sae's ally but not until after the bloodbath. Not until I know that the poor, defenseless little girl is safe. I won't let my safe grow close to someone so close from home only to see them ripped away from me. So, if I see the little girl after the bloodbath I will definitely ally with her. I quickly finish sorting out the berries and wait while the man checks to see how many I got right out of twenty.

"Nineteen correct," he says plainly before scattering all the berries together.

"What?" I say dumbfounded. How could I have got one wrong? I was almost certain, maybe I rushed it. "Which one did I get wrong? Wait, don't tell me I'll just do it again," I say frantically taking the berries from him and beginning to rearrange them into the two piles. Once I'm left with just a black bryony and a damson, I really don't realize where I had gone wrong the last time as it is clear that the damson is edible and the black bryony is poisonous.

"Congratulations, twenty correct," the man says in a boring tone and to my delight. "Would you now like to try the plant challenge?"

"No, it's okay. I did that this morning," I say politely before picking myself up and deciding to actually try using a weapon as I haven't so far. After much deliberation I decide to go over to the crossbow station where just the little boy from 10 is. Calmly, I wait for him to finish his shot and after giving me a smile he goes rushing over to the girl from his own district.

As soon as he's gone I pick up the crossbow and attach the arrow to the elastic part before releasing. I'm quite pleased to say that it whistles through the air and lodges itself in the thigh of the target, maybe I should just try and get one of these at the Cornucopia. After a few more tries I hit the target almost every time and it isn't until I see a few tributes waiting behind me that I realize how long I have been shooting the arrows for. I quickly place the crossbow down and begin to scurry away when one taps me on the shoulder.

"Sorry," I say not turning around.

"No, we were just coming over to propose an alliance," a male voice says. I turn around to look and I see the boy from district 7, Guire. His face lights up with a kind smile and I let my lips curl ever so slightly. Before answering my eyes flicker over to the girl next to him from district 6, Christina. She reflects the same smile as him and out of all the tributes I have spoke to so far these two seem the most calm.

"But.. why would you want an alliance with me?" I ask looking at my untoned arms and anorexic like stomach.

"Because you seem like us. You're not a bloodthirsty career. You're not a crying little kid. You're just someone who wants to get out of here," Guire says confidently.

"We've seen how good you're at survival skills and it could come to good use. Guire is amazing with an axe being from district 7 and I have good aim," Christina says happily, "When it comes down to the environment you can help us. When it comes down to a battle up close Guire can help us and when it comes down to seeing someone far away I can help us." She seems very confident on the manner. In fact both of them do and the more they speak the more I am convinced that I should ally with these two. We'll survive longer.

"I'll join your alliance," I finally say and a large smile appears across all of our faces and the bell for the end of training rings out. "I'll see you two tomorrow," I say before we begin to part our different ways. The careers lunge for the elevators and glare at anyone who comes close so the majority of us have to take the stairs.

I wait for Merriet and Sae and once they arrive we start on a long conversation about the different tributes. These two might not be my allies but they're from home and I'll protect them when I need to. I think today has been a productive today. I've made an alliance. I can shoot with a crossbow. I've proved my skills. I think anybody would be stupid to count me out of these games.

**A/N: So, that's the first day of training over and we'll have one more before the private sessions. Alliances are beginning to form and I hope you like them. This is going to be hard to see who I will kill off at the bloodbath.**

**Next chapter is trainind, day 2 and there is POV's from Vika Tabor (2), Chris Octavian (4), Katri Mellows (7), Cole Phlox Lindgren (9), Riley Stevens (1) and Ange Parks (9).**

**Okay thanks for reading and please give me a review!**


	21. Training, Day 2, Part 1

**A/N: Okay, this was originally meant to be six POV's but I have decided to spilt it into two seperate chapters so there is only three POV's in this chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Vika Tabor's POV (2):**

I'm beginning to think why I brought my best friend in stead of my parents. Sure, she is amazing and I can have a good laugh with her but she's not my mentor. She's not my parents, who can show me who to trust. Like Kai. Can I trust him? I doubt it. He's just waltzed in took control of the career pack and spilt us into two groups. The groups being district 1 together and district 2 and the two from district 4 together. So in my group there's Cavail, Luke, me, Fleur, Kai and Alyssa.

"Do you want to have a sword fight, Vika?" Kai suddenly says to me quietly as we are released for the second day of training.

"Kai, you know we're not aloud to fight in training," I say back to him tiredly.

"I won't hurt you," he says in a pleading voice then brings his lips to my ear, "I'll save that for in the arena." I shove him away firmly and shake my head. Who does he think he is? Whilst our pack makes our way over to the sword station on the other side of the training centre the district 1 tributes head straight to bow and arrow where they rapidly begin to shoot at the targets.

"So," Cavail says in a voice that indicates he wants to tell us all something very important, "I think at the bloodbath we should take out as many from district 1 as possible," he says slyly. It isn't actually a bad idea. "Hopefully that wreck from 11 will take Ruby out in the one on one anyway but if he doesn't, I'm sure she'll be no match to us," he adds on before showing an evil grin.

"I agree," Alyssa says firmly, "how about Harabel though?"

"Leave her," Kai suddenly shouts, "she's mine. We'll let her survive the bloodbath then we'll hunt her down later on."

"And as for the other tributes, we just kill them as we see them," I add in. If I don't contribute they'll think I'm weak and I don't want to be perceived as the weak career that I'm not. I'm better than most of these idiots here anyway. Fleur just spends most her time with her Dad, Cavail is only thirteen, Kai's plain arrogant and Luke and Alyssa seem to be hiding their talents. Maybe I should turn on the pack on the first night. It's clear I won't get on with them for long anyway.

As soon as we arrive at the sword station Kai and Cavail quickly take the two available so me and Alyssa just walk away to the dagger station which is right next to it. As soon as it is out of it's rack I swing it at the dummy which collapses in a heap after one hit. After a few more collapsed dummies I begin to get bored and to be honest this training doesn't work up to what you think it will be. I expected amazing things but it's just as similar to the district 2 training centre. I'd try the survival skills but... well I don't really have a reason why I don't want to. I guess I could go for a swim, I've never swam before and I guess Alyssa could teach me.

"Alyssa do you wanna go for a swim?" I say pointing other to the pool. She quickly nods her head like she has been waiting for someone to ask her and she rushes over to the pool where the female tribute from district 8 is just getting out. It isn't long until the two of us are in the pool and I find that I am a natural at swimming. Like really, I'm not even that far behind Alyssa (who has grown up swimming) when we have races. The trainer tries to assist us and to my amusement Alyssa tells him that she is probably better than he is.

"So Alyssa," I say testing out my throat which feels like it is burning, "what's your district partners like?"

"They're okay," she says quickly dunking herself underwater before appearing again, "Harabel's a bitch though and Chris is not really any competition."

"Yeah, what's up with her?" I say, referring to Harabel.

"I don't know. She just answers everything stupidly. She always says things are logical and illogical and irrelevant, on the train she was doing that a lot," she says looking clearly frustrated by the girl. I give a short smile before swimming over to the edge of the pool where I manage to catch a glance at Harabel shooting an arrow at a target. "Don't count her out though," Alyssa says appearing next to me. "The girl has talent, probably the best in my district."

"How about you?" I ask.

"Me? I didn't even volunteer. I've trained yes, but I'm not some amazing career. I'm here because everyone thought I was good enough and my only intention is to go back for my Mother, hopefully she can be alright without me though." I wonder what's the matter with her Mam? Should I ask or is that nosey?

"Your Mother?" I say vaguely trying to get her to develop what she was saying.

"She's got some disease or something but they can't fix it because they don't know what it is," she says croakily. I'm almost sure that she is crying but it's hard to tell with all the water on her face. "If I win then the Capitol will be able to help her and possibly me..."

"Why? What's the matter with you?" I blurt out without thinking it through in my head.

"They say there is a possibility that I will get the disease as well," she says before swimming off. Poor Alyssa. No. I can't think like that, I'm in competition with her. When your in these games you can't think about anybody else's feelings, anybody else's families. Even if they are on the verge of death. Death is the main part in this game. I'll just have to put up with it.

* * *

**Chris Octavian's POV (4):**

"Do you honestly want to miss training for this?" Harley asks worryingly. I know I have chosen her as my mentor but I need to make my own decisions and I need to do this. I simply nod my head at her and she drags me into a long hug.

"Don't change too much," she says and begins to walk away.

"Wait Harley!" I call after her and she turns around hopefully as if I'm going to change my mind. "Tell the organizer I'm ill and tell little Yogev that as well," I call. She nods her head sadly and as soon as I hear the doors shut I open the window of my room. I know saying that I'm ill is lies but I have no other way of missing training and still I can't help but feel that this might be a wrong decision.

I place my first foot onto the window ledge and grip onto the pipe. Soon I'm sliding down it and soon I can see the forcefield that I have to avoid. I have this all planned though and I know there is a gap in the forcefield for one of the pipes. With my heart beating furiously I jump for the correct pipe and quickly slide down it until I am on the streets of the Capitol. Now where did that man say I had to go. Diamond Street, I think.

On my way to Diamond Street I skip through back allys picking up odd wigs and strange costumes along the way until I finally look like a Capitol citizen. I walk out of an ally wearing a bright orange wig and a dark lilac robe like thing. I have managed to find some whiskers as well so anybody that doubts my appearance will soon take back their thoughts. I try to keep my head down at all times but it is quite hard as all Capitol people seem to want to say hello to you.

"Hello," I say in the strongest Capitol accent I can to a large woman and she tilts her head down in respect before carrying on walking. About five hundred or so metres later I realize that I'm going to have to approach someone for directions.

"Excuse me," I suddenly ask to a man with yellow hair and cover my mouth like I've got a bad cough after realizing I spoke in my normal voice, "could you tell me where Diamond Street is?" The man looks at me with wide eyes and shakes his head in what must be disbelief.

"How can you not know where Diamond Street is young man? Where have you been all your life? I can't believe it, oh wait were you were on of the youths who were experimented on?" he says all very quickly and hoping it is the right answer I nod my head. "Ah yes, that makes sense. Well I hope you do get better soon young man. Diamond Street is around that corner on your left," he says pointing in the direction. I thank him quickly and he heads off muttering something to himself about the experiment.

What type of place is this? Experiments? Get better soon? I'm glad I don't live in the Capitol if youths get taken into experiments. I carry on down a cottage lane where I have to greet quite a lot of people until I turn the corner and catch my first look at Diamond Street and now I know why it is called Diamond Street. There is five houses all aligned together very evenly and they all look like the other houses in shape and size but all of the windows, doors, roofs and anything else you can think of are covered in diamonds.

I try not to look too shocked by the houses so in stead make my way to number four. That was the house that the man said wasn't it? I think. I notice other people entering other houses on the street and I realize that above each house is a sign. On house one the sign is 'Hairdresser', on house two the sign is 'Doctor', on house three the sign is 'Jeweler', on house five the sign is 'Dentist' and on the house I stand in front of, house 4, the sign is 'Therapist'.

I take a deep breath and open the door and the man I remember from yesterday stands in front of me. "Hello Chris," he says with a large smile on his face. "So you got here in one piece," he says wavering his hand up and down.

"Yes, would you do me the favour of helping me get back though," I say hopefully. I really don't want to endure such a terrible journey again.

"Yes of course, but we have a lot to get through first. Well I have a lot to get through you will be knocked out the majority of the time," and with that he gestures me to the follow him into a plain white room where there is many cupboards and a chair that looks very similar to the one that you have in a dentist. Is this really the right thing to do?

"Okay Chris take a seat and I'm going to inject you with this syringe. By the time you have woken up I will have completed the brain procedure so that you will no longer be superstitious," he says and I take a seat. This is a good thing. Yes, it will change me but it will help me for the games. I won't be superstitious.

* * *

**Katri Mellows' POV (7):**

"Your turn," the trainer calls in a bored voice as the girl from district 5 jumps down from the climbing station. A small smile creeps across my face at the prospect of what I'm about to do. I give a firm nod to the man and before he can place the harness on me to keep me safe I begin to climb up the rope. "Excuse me, you need this on," he says in a more serious voice but I continue to climb. What are they going to do anyway? I've already been placed in a fight to the death? Without looking down I put foot into rung after rung until I reach the second part of the climbing course.

It is a wooden block which is covered in different little figures which you can grip onto. I grip my first hand onto a yellow figure and hoist myself up onto the second, to be honest it is really quite easy until I get half way up where the figures are now very loose. When you grip onto them they move underneath your weight and as I get higher and higher I realize that some fall from underneath you.

For the first time the daredevil that is myself doesn't want to go any further, but I'm sure other tributes are watching me and I want to look good. I want them to know that I do stand a chance. The voice of the instructor continues to call after me and once a figure collapses underneath my weight I look down for the first time where a large congregation has gathered and most of the trainers are holding up some type of sheet incase I fall. Well I'll show them. I won't fall, I won't fail. Once I've perched myself on top of the wooden block I look down and give a cheeky wave. I take this chance to have a breather and then the speaker bellows across the training centre.

"Could Katri Mellows of district 7 please take the harness next to her!" I take a quick look to my left and right and see a harness which seems to magically appeared. Should I put it on? On one hand this thing is only going to get harder and it could save me from looking like a fool if I fall and the trainers have to catch me. On the other hand if I do take the harness the other tributes might see me as weak and stop watching. I look up at the next part which is basically a zip line.

Well, that kind of ruins not using a harness I quickly pick it up and begin to attach it when a weird image comes into my head of me going across the zip line just using my hands. I quickly drop the harness and it rolls off the edge of the wooden block sending it crashing onto the rope rungs below. The speaker tells me to put on the harness once again but in stead I grab onto the line with both hands and without my mind's permission my feet lift off and hand by hand I begin to travel down the wire. Sure, my heart is beating at like a billion miles an hour but the thrill is amazing. I guess that is one up side to the arena, there will be lot of thrills even if I'm going to be running away from potential murderers.

Soon the line becomes way too steep and I find myself just sliding down it until it ends and I am once again standing on top of a wooden block where yet another harness is.

"I'm not going to put the harness on," I finally yell down at the trainers, "can you not see I'm doing this fine on my own? Wait until I'm lieing on the floor until you tell me to put a harness on!"

"We have seen your ability and we commend you for that but it is still dangerous. The climbing course gets harder as it progresses and the punishments will be severe if you don't put the harness on now. However if you do put it on now we will forget the whole incident and there will be no punishment," a trainer calls to me.

"Do you not think I've been punished enough since I'm being sent to the death," I shout angrily at him and I hear many gasps from the tributes, "maybe it would be better if I died here because I wasn't wearing a harness. It would save me being killed by some kid!" Why did I just say that? They'll kill me for sure now, but that's what I'm thinking. That's was every one of us will be thinking for sure.

"Could Katri Mellows please make her way outside of the training centre, immediately," the speaker says loudly and I quickly cover my ears. What have I done? I look over the edge of the wooden block where a ladder is starting to shoot up. As soon as I can I make my way down it and when I pass through the group of tributes I feel someone slip something into my hand and I look down to see a piece of paper. I look back to the tributes but they all look at me plainly. I stuff the paper into my pocket. I'll read it later.

As soon as I walk out of the room hands grip onto my shoulders and I am shoved into a wall.

"You are at the Capitol as a guest, you'll abide by the rules like everyone else," says a woman with long dark purple hair.

"What, do you not think everyone else is thinking what I'm thinking?" I snarl.

"Yes, but they're are not so stupid like you," she says before shoving me back towards the door. "I just wanted to warn you that you'd pay for your actions in the arena." With that she leaves through a different door and I am left alone. I have no chance of getting out now but I'm so angry. It's all their fault anyway. I just wanted a bit of fun but then I needed to vent my frustrations some how.

I remember the slip of paper and quickly pull it out of my pocket. Now, it is all crumpled and the writing inside of it looks like it has been written in something in the camouflage station. It reads 'If you're up for a rebellion come to floor 10?'. Floor 10? That's district 10's floor. I'm up for a rebellion and if district 10 is, I'm happy to join their alliance.

**A/N: So that was part 1. Part 2 will include Cole Phlox Lindgren (9), Riley Stevens (1), Ange Parks (9). So we've had the first glimpse of careers, Chris is getting rid of his superstition and Katri is joining Theo and Aurelie in the rebellion gang!**

**So please tell me what you think in a review!**


	22. Training, Day 2, Part 2

**Cole Phlox Lindgren's POV (9):**

As lunch finishes I stare around again at the alliances that are forming while I have nobody. I was planning on allying with Luna and Ange but the likelihood is they will die in the bloodbath, I don't want to get too close to them if that is going to happen. I haven't really had the chance to ally with anyone else, I've been too busy trying to devise the ultimate prank of the careers. I mean, why not? They're so full of themselves, walking round thinking they own the place. Well, they don't, the Capitol do and if I pull of my prank in the best way possible it will just look like any old mishap that had nothing to do with anyone else.

Now to put my prank into action. I walk over to the station where the district 1 tributes are gathered and begin to look quite sulky. None of them even pay attention to me, which is what I wanted. I walk over to the trainer who is at this station and begin my plan.

"It's not fair how these lot are always taking up the stations and people like me don't have a chance," I say hanging my head down.

"Okay," the trainer says plainly, which wasn't really what I wanted him to say.

"Well, could you not tell them to go to the survival part or something so I could have a turn," I say but he doesn't even reply, "You have to give me a fair shot at this," I add on finally lifting my head up and pulling the saddest face I can at him. After a minute or so of staring at each other he sighs and lifts himself onto his feet like it is really hard to tell some people to go over to a station.

"District 1, could you please check out the survival station or some other station so this boy could have a turn here," the man says rolling his eyes. The district 1 tributes all look at me synchronized and smirk before muttering stuff about survival and beginning to walk off. Now my plan might actually work.

I pick up the axe that I said I wanted to use and begin to swing it around at a dummy while eagerly watching the district 1 tributes at the same time. They just need to shake that bottle and then they've been pranked. I continue to watch as the two girls, Joanie and Ruby begin to paint themselves like a tree for camoflague. My eyes light up as she runs out of paint and walks over to the bottle that she thinks has paint in.

Everything seems to go so slowly as Ruby shakes the bottle a few times and as she is about to pour the paint out an eruption takes place. The tributes from district 1 fly back covered in paint and screams are heard throughout the room. I try to look as shocked as I can but it is hard when you are looking at the sight in front of me. It wasn't even hard to do either. I just needed to put the paint in the bottle and pour some dry ice in, as soon as it was shaken it was going to explode. I'm quite proud of that one.

Trainers from all different stations rush over to the district 1 tributes who are so covered in paint that I can't distinguish which tribute is which.

"My eyes," Ruby suddenly squeals and lashes out the trainers. "You can't let something like this happen!" she screams. All of the trainers look from one to another as if something like this was impossible and as none of them know how all the paint got everywhere they are obviously thinking it is their fault.

"How did this happen?" one of the trainers suddenly asks Nicky who has managed to wipe all the paint on his face.

"I don't know, I was just painting and then BOOM!" he says sounding extremely shocked by the whole situation. Soon enough the district 1 tributes are taken out of the room and the other career pack begin to burst into laughter. Soon enough most of the tributes are laughing at the situation and I am as well.

"The survival station is unavailable for the rest of training today," a speaker suddenly says and a few men come out taping the place so it is out of bounds. Soon everyone is back to their usual business of training and any sign of the tributes all joining in a laugh is now distinguished. Gone. Just like that. What have the Capitol done to us when we can't even communicate with people are own age? Why have they thrown us into a fight to the death? And why must we have to see these people before hand? What if we get to know them better? The tears will fall along with thirty three of us and however unlikely it is I just have to hope that I will be the one that doesn't fall, that doesn't fail. That wins. But are you really the winner if you have killed to become one?

I may not think I can win but I certainly plan to give the Capitol a good laugh.

* * *

**Riley Stevens' POV (1):**

"What did you do to make it explode?" I sat to Ruby quite angrily. Over the last ten minutes or so we have just been sitting here stinking of dry paint while we have all continuously asked Ruby what she did to make the paint explode. She says she doesn't know and all I know is that we have been made a laughing stock of in front of all of the other tributes. What happened to the careers who everyone is scared of?

"Nothing," she says defensively, "I walked over to the paint and was about to bring it back when the bottle exploded."

"You see, things don't just explode, Ruby," Joanie suddenly buts in glaring at the girl.

"But it did," she cries looking almost as angry as when it first happened.

"Maybe it was on purpose," Nicky mutters to himself.

"It probably was," Joanie says quite confidently.

"Well, who do you think it was?" I ask trying to get suggestions because who ever it was I plan to kill on the first day.

"The other career pack," Ruby says angrily clenching her fist, "they obviously want to get one over on us. The other tributes will be more scared of them than us."

"Well, we'll show them," Joanie says picking away at the paint on her clothes.

"We'll kill them in the bloodbath," Nicky shouts almost as if he wants them to here.

"Every last one of them," I agree my fists now tight in balls.

"Why do they think they're so much better than us anyway?" Ruby says pulling a face of disgust. "They'll see how much better I am than them when I slaughter that boy from district 11 in the battle."

"Is that actually getting shown to us?" Joanie asks quickly. "I don't think it is incase it gives away what you're good at. It will get shown to the Capitol though, you can just show the other career pack the realthing when it comes to the bloodbath." For the next few minutes we sit in silence and I pull out my bouncy ball Bradly gave me and begin to bounce it up and down. Soon enough all four of us are bouncing it between one another and our escort suddenly walks in looking quite flustered.

"Okay," she says getting our attention, "Here's some new training costumes," she joyfully says pulling four new ones from behind her back. Me and Nicky quickly lunge for our costumes and rush to the shower room so we can get changed. I quickly wash the smell of paint off of me and get changed before all of us are together and our escort is inspecting us all to see if there is any bad smell anymore.

"Perfect," she says before skipping off. The four of us nod our heads and make our way into the training centre where all attention turns to us. We pull the most threatening faces we can and charge straight over to the other career pack who have smirks planted on their ugly mutt like faces.

"Do you think you're clever do you?" Ruby suddenly blurts out staring right at Fleur from 2.

"What are you talking about?" Fleur responds quickly.  
"You's lot," Nicky suddenly shouts pushing Luke a bit, "you's messed up the paint so we'd get covered in it!"

"No we didn't," Vika suddenly shouts at us, "wait did you do that Kai?" she adds on sounding generally shocked. A small smirk appears across Kai's face and he shakes his head slightly.

"Yes you did," Joanie says walking closer to Kai and pushing him slightly.

"Where's your evidence?" Alyssa says quirking her eyebrow.

"We don't need evidence, it's plain obvious that you lot did it," I butt in.

"Well, I didn't," Vika says beginning to walk away, "see ya."

"Okay, which one of you's did do it because we're coming after all of you at the bloodbath," Ruby says with a small evil smile creeping upon her face.

"You do that 1, we don't care. We'd happily kill all four of you at the bloodbath," Kai says quite confidently.

"Fine, see you there," Joanie says and with that the four of us charge off.

* * *

**Ange Parks' POV (9):**

"I just want to go Luna," I plead hanging on to the door handle. Seriously, this place is horrible. No seven year old should have to be kept in the same environment as this many weapons for so long. It's just not fair. I'm almost forced to watch as monsters from the upper district throw weapons at dummies while I refuse to pick up a knife from when I first held one before the chariots.

"We can't go yet, it's not time to," Luna says trying to drag me away from the door but I cling on anyway. "I'll leave you here by yourself if you don't come with me now," she says trying to make me come with her but I simply shake my head. Since the survival place blew up the only places we can go to is the swimming pool, which I'm quite scared of, the climbing place, which I'm quite scared of and the weapons stations, which I'm also scared of.

"Fine," I say loosening my grip on the doors and staring right into her eyes. Why does she have to be like this? Does she not understand that this is all wrong?

"Okay, well you stay here while I practice some climbing," she says before walking away and leaving me standing by the door. I take this time to look around the centre and find Cole who is praising with a bow and arrow. Most of the time my eyes are on the clock though as I wait for the bell to ring out which is one top of it. I rest my back against the door and think of what it was like back home. I miss my family. Well, Faine is here with me but it's not the same without my Mam and Dad. It's not the same when I get a hug off just Faine in stead of Mam and Dad.

I feel tears beginning to warm my cheeks before I can think and I rest my eyes in my hands as I fall to the floor. I don't know hoe long I stay there for but the thing that makes me move is the door which suddenly hits my back and the boy from four, Chris, walks in looking quite dazed.

"Sorry," he says picking me up, "Oh... it's you Harley, sorry," he says dragging me into a hug, "the procedure was a success. Why are you down here anyway?"

"My name's not Harley," I say scaredly. What's this boy on about? And why is he acting like he knows me?

"Don't be silly Harley. Is it the detention centre again, is that's what making you say that? It'll be okay," he says dragging me into another hug which I try to pull out of.

"Leave me alone," I say backing away, "I'm not Harley and I don't know who you are."

"Harley don't be like that. You're my sister, come here," he says holding his arms out again. What is this boy on about? I'm not his sister?

"Faine's my brother, not you," I whisper so the boy doesn't get angry, "And I'm called Ange not Harley."

"Who's Ange and Faine, don't be silly."

"I'm not being silly, I'm from district 9 and you're from district 4," I struggle to say as tears begin to pour down my cheeks again.

"You're not from district 9, you're from 4. I'm your brother Harley. Have they done something to you? Your only fifteen how could they hurt you like that?" he says frantically looking round like someone is going to attack him.

"I'm not fifteen, I'm seven," I say further backing away from the boy.

"No your fifteen, you just look young," he says holding his arms out for another hug.

"I'm seven," I suddenly shout, "I'm a tribute in these games just like you!"

"What? They've made you a tribute? I'll protect you Harley don't worry. I'll do anything so you can get out."

"LUNA!" I suddenly scream and I can already here her footsteps.

"Why do you want that girl from district 9?" he says sounding upset, "you're not still going along with that story, are you?" Luckily I don't have to answer him and Luna comes rushing over dragging me into her arms.

"Get off my sister!" he suddenly yells.

"What are you on about?" Luna says quickly taking me away from the boy.

"Give me my sister back," he shouts and begins to run over.

"Luna, get him to leave me alone. He keeps on saying stuff about me being called Harley," I plead just like I had done that we could go. And now I really want to go, I want to get away from this boy.

"Harley, please come here," Chris say tears beginning to emerge and for a second or so I want to comfort this boy but in that second two peacekeepers drag him away kicking and screaming for me. What's going on?

**A/N: A lot of action and for anyone who is confuused about Chris is therapist session went wrong and now he has some type of memory loss where he is thinking Ange is his sister, oh no. Hope you liked it and you'll have to wait and see who is in the next chapter...**

**Review please!**


	23. Private Sessions, Part 1

**Cavail Mirth's POV (2):**

"Fleur Delta," the robotic voice calls. I watch as the girl, who can hardly call herself a career after the terrible display in training, picks herself up off the bench and strolls over to the automatic doors which quickly open before snapping shut behind her. She thinks she's got this all sorted out, stupid girl. When it comes to the bloodbath I won't be surprised if district 1 manage to ship her off. I may as well let them, she is little use. Yes, I'll let them kill her then dispose of them myself.

My head snaps around once again to that stupid boy from district 4, Chris. Again and again and again he calls for the little girl from district 9 who cowers slightly underneath the girl from her district. What is wrong with that boy? I can tell it isn't just me getting annoyed by the idiot but I will be called to go soon so it's alright. The other tributes are either sitting still or whispering among themselves. I'm not sure if they underestimate me or not, they should. Just because I'm thirteen it doesn't mean I can't snap their neck, it doesn't mean I can't rip their torso apart, it doesn't mean that I can't hold an axe above them while they plead for their pointless lives. They'll see that I'm not to be underestimated tonight when I get a high score in training.

"Luke Viper," the robotic voice calls. My eyes attach to Luke's muscular frame and he pushes his hair out of his eye before disappearing out of the door. Now, if I've got a contender for the crown of these games it is Luke. I've watched him in training, I've scrutininsed him for weaknesses but so far I have failed to find any apart from his Mother. His Mother who he upset on the train but he wishes he didn't, she has managed to bring him this far and he wants to impress. He wants to show he can win it and if I want him to perform I'll just have to mention her and how he needs to impress her and then when it comes to me disposing of Luke himself, I'll tell him that his Mother will be disappointed.

"Cavail Mirth," my turn. I slide myself onto my feet and glare at a random tribute before walking through the doors and into the training centre that I have come to know so well. I stride into the room staring intently at the head gamemaker, a past victor from my district I believe. I have seen her games many a time, an impressive way of killing someone I have to admit. Maybe ripping someone's throat out with my teeth is something I should try myself.

"You may begin," she says waving her hand to the countless number of weapons that are on display. I eye up the number of weapons in front of me before picking up a mace in my right hand and a sickle sword in my left hand. I shove a few knives into my pocket and begin my walk to the dummy which is waiting innocently on the other side of the training centre.

Without warning, as soon as I get there I embed the mace where the private parts would be and rip a large part of the dummy out. I don't turn around for any compliments but I'm sure that they will be impressed. Why wouldn't they be? I've shown my brutality and brutality is something you need in these games. Your not going to hurt someone by gently stabbing them in the shoulder with a knife, are you? No, to hurt someone you must do it properly. Like what I am about to do.

I throw the mace to one side and slice the sickle sword eight through the dummies neck, decapitating it in the process. I throw two knives into the head and shove the dummy other before chopping off it's legs and finishing it off with a stab to the stomach.

"Thank you," Enobaria says waving her hand towards the door.

"Oh, I'm not finished I say before turning round and storming over to a dummy which faces the other way. This is how I can kill someone, sneak up behind them then attack. In one swift movement I swing my foot up to the dummies back and hit it resulting in a sickening crack. Well, it would be sickening for the person but not for me. I wait a few seconds before the dummy begins to crack and about half of it bashes against the floor. A small smile comes across my face and I quickly look around the centre for one more thing to do.

I look up at the ceiling and spy a small beam which if it falls won't make a difference. Quickly, knowing I have not much time left, I walk over to the axe station and pick up one. I walk back over to the middle of the centre and with all the strength I can muster I hoist it up towards the beam.

To my delight it quickly slices through the beam which comes crashing down to the floor leaving a large dent while the axe manages to embed itself into a wall on the other side of the centre. I have to say that I am quite impressed with myself.

"Thank you for watching," I grin before walking out of the door where my fellow allies wait. I suspect I'll be getting a high score.

* * *

**Jesseca Mira's POV (3):**

There is suddenly a large crash from the training room causing my heart to beat even quicker than it is. Of course being from district 3, I'll probably be the first disappointment or the most boring to watch. I still don't know what I'm going to show. I'd show my talent with stopping mines from blowing up but there isn't a mine and I don't have the right equipment. I haven't particularly excelled in any weapon either, I guess I was okay at the swimming and the climbing.

"Jesseca," I hear Lars cool voice ask me. I turn to him and nod my head for him to carry on, "Have you decided what you are doing yet?"

"Nope, you?"

"No," well I'm guessing that's what he said as he is shaking his head all I can hear once again is that boy from district 4, Chris.

"Harley, have they made you a tribute?" he says for about the twelfth time to the little child from district 9, "If you are why are you sitting with district 9 Harley? Stop being silly, come here. Please Harley, come on." What on Earth is going on with him? He keeps on saying that she is his sister and she clearly isn't because she is called Ange and she's from district 9 while he's from 4. I just don't understand why he's doing this, he didn't turn up to training and then all of a sudden he came back claiming that the little girl wash his sister.

"Shut up!" the other boy from 4, Kai, screams and everybody is reduced to silence for about a minute before Chris starts the begging again.

"Everybody just calm down," Steen says standing up. "Seriously Chris, I don't know what's the matter with you but that girl clearly isn't your sister so why don't you just calm down," he adds on calmly.

"Yes she is," he almost pleads Steen to believe him, "Harley come here."

"Chris, leave her alone," Luna says to him angrily, "Can you not see that your scaring her," she adds on pointing to the girl who has hidden her head in Luna's shoulder.

"But.. she's my sister..." he trails off.

"No she isn't," Alyssa from 4 speaks up, "your sister is the fifteen year old girl who you brought here as your mentor, not her," she says pointing over to Ange.

"No it isn't," he suddenly screeches back angrily, "I don't know who that girl is but she's weird." Oh god. One thing I don't get is why everyone is arguing about it. Chris is obviously wrong in the head or something but he's also quite strong as well as being able to use some weapons. I don't see why Ange doesn't just take the chance to ally with him in the arena, she'll be protected from any harm that comes to her and he could probably take her quite far.

"Jesseca Mira," the voice calls and all eyes turn towards me.

"Good luck," Lars says fidgeting with his fingers. It seems since yesterday when our escort took away all of his cigarettes, he has been fidgeting with his fingers a lot. To be honest though, he has to get used to it, it's not like he's going to get any cigarettes in the arena. Unless someone sends him some as a sponsor. That reminds me, I have to get a good score here if I want to get any good sponsors.

I make my way into the room and stare up at the gamemakers who await me. I'm quickly told to begin and not knowing what to do I head over to the survival station which looks quite good. For a while I just separate berries into different piles but after realizing that this clearly isn't going to impress them I turn around and raise my hand.

"Do you have any mines?" I ask but Enobaria just quirks her eyebrow strangely, "You know? Like KABOOM," I add on making big explosive actions with my arms. All of them have a small discussion before I see one of them on the phone and a peacekeeper walks out with a small mine in their hand.

"Thanks," I say gripping onto it and placing it on the floor. I quickly search the survival station for some wire and after finding some I rush back to the mine and begin to wrap it round it. This is exactly what I did on the reaping morning. I make a fire with two sticks, which I learnt to do on day 1 of training, and I set the mine off for sixty seconds till it explodes. Now for the thrill.

I walk into the middle of the room and begin to dance. The other thing I love. The gamemakers watch me intently but at the same time they look back to the mine frantically. 'Don't worry' I mouth to Enobaria but I can see that she doesn't trust me as soon enough a peacekeeper walks into the room quickly with something that will deactivate the mine. Realizing that the man will ruin what I want to do I quickly rush over to the mine which has began to count down from ten. I use the fire from the sticks to light the wire and with a few seconds to spare the mine stops and I walk out of the room with a small thank you.

Well that went better than I thought it would.

* * *

**Apollo Levin's POV (6):**

After district 4 has finished the district 5 tributes go quite quickly and Christina has just been called, leaving me with all these people that I don't know. I sit next to the boy from 7, Guire, who I know Christina is allied with. I wanted to ask to ally but I knew not to. I knew that they would not accept and I would look like a fool so I have decided that I will not ally with anyone unless the time comes and I need to. Many alliances have started anyway and I'm not one who is going to go over to some randomer and ask if I can join the alliance.

I think it's better if I just go by myself. I don't want to be trying to look after someone else as well as myself, I think the only positive for my allying would be if I allied with someone who has a lot of sponsors. That is mainly the careers and the little girl from 9, because the Capitol think that she is cute. Thankfully the boy from 4, Chris, has already went for his session so there is no more moaning on about the girl being his sister. I did see that boy as being a threat but if he is going to go on like that I don't think he will be.

I think the threats are district 1, 2 and 4 but I think there is going to be a little battle between 1 against 2 and 4 at the bloodbath so that will make it easier for me. Well, that is if I get past the bloodbath myself. Other than 1, 2 and 4 I think Christina's alliance is a threat. They seem to have everything sorted out and I wouldn't be surprised if none of their faces turn up in the sky on day 1.

"Apollo Levin," oh no. I tremble a bit as I stand up and walk into the room where the gamemakers glare at me evilly. Well, they probably aren't and I'm probably just seeing it that way because of how scared I am of them. I do have good right to be though, they are the people who decide what score I get and what score I get determines if I get sponsors or not in the arena and if I get sponsors or not in the arena can be the difference between life and death. To put it simple, I'm not too keen on dieing.

"You may begin," a voice says. I look around dizzily trying to remember where everything is but it proves to be quite hard. Half not knowing where I'm going I head over to the axe station which I went to quite a bit in training. I look for the heaviest axe, like I had used in training, but it is strangely not there so I have to settle for the second heaviest axe.

I throw the axe straight at the dummy but it flies straight past and clatters off the floor sending silence throughout the room. No. What did I just do? That was terrible, but what else could I have done. I quickly stare up at the gamemakers who are just staring boringly at the dummy. The dummy who should be lying on the floor right now.

Scared that I'll get a terrible score I pick up the lightest axe and throw it at the dummy, once again it flies past and clatters against the floor. Why is this happening now? I'd done so well in training. Attempt after attempt I throw the axes until there is none left and the best I got was one axe that skimmed off the dummy's foot. What is the point of being able to throw an axe if I can't hit someone with it?

"Thank you," Enobaria says and waves her hand towards the door.

"No, I was supposed to impress you," I squeak out and run closer to her.

"If you have anything else to show us you have..." she looks towards her watch, "two and a half minutes."

"Thanks," I say before rushing off to the sword station. Maybe I'll be better at hitting the dummy if I'm right next to it. Yeah, I think I will be. I pick up the sword quickly and swing it right at the dummy's head. The sword gets stuck in it's neck but that's good enough for me, it would kill them wouldn't it?

"Thank you," Enobaria repeats before noting down something and turning around to confer with her fellow gamemakers. I'm escorted out of the room by some peacekeepers and soon I am jogging up the stairs to floor six. Six. I'll be happy with a score of six after that.

**A/N: Okay, that was part 1 because I wanted to split it into two parts again. The next chapter is from the POV's of Guire Davids (7), Zaria Paska (11) and Merriet Volnur (12). Well I hope it was a good chapter and thanks for all the reviews. **

**Review please!**


	24. Private Sessions, Part 2

**Guire Davids' POV (7):**

"Katri Mellows," the robotic voice calls, she gives me a shy smile before standing up and walking out of the doors. I quickly look over to Maisie who gives me a small thumbs up and I reply the favour. Poor Maisie, she'll be one of the last to go. The gamemakers might not even be paying attention to the tributes at that point. Well, Maisie is very skilled in what she does and she should be able to get the attention of them.

I scan the tributes that are left in the room with me and I hate to say it but I doubt any of these are a threat to me. My district partner, Katri, is just too young and although I think she could have went far I have a feeling she will be targeted by the gamemakers for her rebellious attitude in training. Then there's the district 8 pair, I think if it was just a normal fight to the death with no blood thirsty careers these two would stand a chance but if a career gets anywhere near them in the bloodbath, they're gone. In district 9 they are all just too young and after watching district 10 work together in training, they just can't use a weapon. Sure they'll know about animals and all that in the arena but they have to get past the bloodbath first and to get past the bloodbath you have to be a good runner. In fact it would have been quite useful in training if they made us do a running challenge so we could see who will probably get past the bloodbath.

"Guire Davids," I'm suddenly called. Katri was quite fast, what could she have done? Maisie once again gives me the thumbs up and little Sae smiles, which puts a grin on my face when I see she has lost one of her front two teeth. See, it's wrong to have someone go in the games who is only at that stage of life, Sae could have done great things. We all could have but they have to ruin everything. If only there was a way to stop it?

My heart slows down when I see the axe in the room and I give the gamemakers a confident grin before carrying on. I'm sure apart from the career districts, district 7 are the district with the most winners. Most people know how to wield an axe well and as much as you think it wouldn't, it takes you quite far in the games. You see, an axe can surprise you. You can throw it from a far or use it up close range, ever way when your from district 7 it's simple.

As soon as I get to the station I grip onto it as tight as I can and with a small turn fling it towards the dummy at the other end of the hall. I turn away to pick up the other axe as a sickening crack and a large thud signals that one part of the dummy is rolling about on the floor. Luckily, I turn around to see that it is it's head and after flinging a few more that dummy is completely destroyed. It isn't much longer until a few more dummies are lying in a heap on the floor and it's only been about two minutes.

"Have you got anything that is more challenging?" I say waving my arms about to try and explain I really want something that will be hard.

"Sure," Enobaria says before clicking a pad on her device. It's almost as if she knew I would ask, well some of the career tributes have already probably asked for something which is harder. After a few minutes of waiting I quirk my eyebrow at her to ask what's going on and she holds up one finger which I guess signals one second or one minute.

Suddenly a large creak behind me makes me turn around and a robot with orange coloured eyes which has been made to perfection walks through the door. It places it's fist in one hand before running towards me quickly. Without needing to think I clutch onto the closest axe and wildly throw it towards the robot and to my utter dismay it catches the handle and throws it to the floor as it continues to run. How on earth did it do that? I'm about to ask when I realize it is still running at me, I quickly grab onto another axe and once it is in swinging distance I swing it towards the arm which falls off quick enough.

Clearly though, this isn't enough to destroy the thing which is scarcely close to being human. It swings it's fist at me and I duck quickly before kicking the place where the sun don't shine. It doubles onto it's back realistically and I swing the axe right into it's chest. A few strange sounds later the robot' head rolls off it's body and I give a quick smile to Enobaria who is pointing down at the head of the robot which is strangely growing into a spider mutation.

To my surprise my heart starts beating rapidly and in stead of grabbing the axe out of the robot's chest I go to stamp on the spider who has quick enough reactions to scamper away. The thing hisses a few times and lurches at my leg. It's metal claws leave a small mark and blood trickles down my leg. The pain though is quite harsh and causes anger inside of me to build. My foot is quick enough this time to stamp on the things body and it snaps in half with ease.

"Thank you Guire," Enobaria calls and I quickly make my way out of the room.

So I've learnt a few things after that, I'm even better with an axe than I thought it was and when it comes to the bloodbath I have to run for it and also when you kill a mutt in the arena make sure to watch it's body unless it grows another mutation. I can't help but think that it was a bit of a hint to me, watch out for the mutts. Almost as if Enobaria was trying to help me, she has built the arena, she would know what is in die of it. But surely she wouldn't just help one tribute, I'm nothing special anyway. Or maybe it was just because I was daring enough to ask fro something harder and she wanted to help me for my braveness. Well, if I'm rewarded for my braveness is this place I should do quite well.

Now to go get ready for the interview.

* * *

**Zaria Paska's POV (11):**

"Good luck," I basically whisper to Yogev as he makes his way into the room. Obviously I don't want the kid to win, I want myself to win, but I can't help but feel sorry for him. There is no need for him to be here and saying good luck is just my way of showing that. I do hope he does well in the session but that's just high hopes, the boy will be lucky to survive the bloodbath.

As for Temur, he's not even going to get to into the games. Whatever false hope I had gave him during training was extinguished as soon as I saw Ruby training. In the arena she will be able to kill from far away, up close or from a height. The girl has everything going for her when it comes to the games and the only thing she'll be seeing her fight with Temur is as a nice warm up. I look over to the boy who is sitting up straight but his eyes look as low down as they can. He fidgets with a loose thread on his trousers and as soon as he sees me looking at him I quickly look away. I know I'm pitying him but I can't help it, I guess I can though as he isn't going to be playing in the same game as me.

The rest of these tributes I'm in the same room as are going to be though and odds are not many of them are going to get past the bloodbath. District 12 has never done good in past games, well apart from the two star crossed lovers who somehow won. I glance over to Merriet and Sae, imagine that, siblings in the Hunger Games. The pain their parents must be going through must be terrible. No, stop it. I'm pitying others, there's no room for that in these games. If you pity others they'll just stab you in the back, the worst death possible in my opinion. I'd much rather go down fighting than be seen as a fool.

"Zaria Paska," the robotic voice suddenly calls and my eyes quickly snap towards the doors which stand waiting for my approval to open. Slowly I find myself on my feet and as I get closer to the doors they open quickly to reveal the training centre I have been in for the last few days. My feet guide me towards the gamemakers who look much more attentive than I would have expected.

"You may begin," the head gamemaker, past victor Enobaria, says while quickly jotting something down onto a slip of paper. I nod my head quickly and head over to the camoflauge station, I have to impress here, for my Mam. She needs the medication and unless I win she'll never get it.

"Would you mind turning away," I say, shyly pointing towards the paint that I'm about to put on my body. I want them to try and find me once I'm done painting myself. At first all of them look at me oddly but one of the male gamemakers explains and soon they are all turned around chatting to each other. I quickly grab hold of the greens, browns and yellows and start applying them to my skin in the same pattern as what is on the fake bushes.

Every now and again I hold my arm up to make sure I'm doing good and I can't help but think that this is actually quite fun. It reminds me of when I was little with my Mam, we used to play a game simply called paint. At first it was a painting competition where we would see who could draw the best picture but it soon turned into a paint war at the end. We'd both end up covered from head to toe and laughter would always ring throughout the house for the rest of the night. Well, that's what we used to do. Now Mam is too ill and too tired to play such games and when I once played it with the friends I used to have it didn't feel the same. I wouldn't have the enjoyment of lying with my Mam on the couch after, recalling the memories of the day.

I realize that I have constantly been painting at one part of my arm for one time now and put a smile on my face to try and take away the pain, but as soon as I win these games the pain will be gone. Me and Mam will be able to play paint again and then we'll lie on the couch. I'll be able to be myself, I'll have friends and we'll have all the money in the district. I'd be one of the most popular people in the Capitol for winning the games after such a long absence of having a victor. I'll be almost as famous as Enobaria, probably more...

The smile stays on my face, with these thoughts, without me forcing it and soon enough I have covered all of my visible skin and even some of my training outfit in paint. I quickly position myself behind a bush so none of my training outfit is shown and rustle it a bit so some of the fake leaves are sticking slightly to my skin.

"You can look for me now," I say but instantly tear up ant the remembrance of another game that me and my Mam used to play. Hide and seek. Everyone's knows hide and seek but our hide and seek was the best. I'd run off someone where in the house and at a small height I'd manage to fit myself in small spaces. I used to call the exact words that I just did to the gamemakers to my Mam.

"I can't see you," Enobaria says quickly taking me out of my memories. My eyes blink open slightly and I see the gamemakers peering to where about I am but they can't see me. Should I let them see me yet? No. The next few minutes are basically just the gamemakers peering around and I actually see one gamemaker get a pair of binoculars to try and find me.

Finally I'm told that I've used all of the time that I'm aloud and I'm forced to come out of my position. There is a chorus of gasps and "I thought she was there", before I gave a short smile and a wave. Now for a nice hot bath and to see what score I got.

* * *

**Merriet Volnur's POV (12):**

In less than no time my trap is set and I quickly request for one of the robotic bunny things that they said would become available. Quite excited at the prospect of something I did actually working I place the robotic bunny down quickly and grab the control. Just a few steps forward... another few... trapped! The rope grips onto the bunnies ankle quickly shoving it upside down. I take a knife and throw it accurately at the bunny before giving a smile and exiting the centre.

I don't think I did too bad there at all, in fact I would go so far to say that I might have impressed them. What about Sae though? Before she went in she didn't even know what she was doing, I can only hope that she did well. Good scores mean that the two of us might get sponsors. I go into the elevator and click the button 12 before it shoots up and comes to abrupt stop at my floor.

"You have reached your destination," that stupid robotic capitol voice says happily.

"Merry!" I hear a girlish scream and instantly know that it is Sae. I rush towards the direction it came from and take her into my arms. "Come quickly, Enobaria is about to reveal the training scores!"

"Already?" I question doubting Sae. "I only just finished."

"Yeah but she's on the TV now," she says gripping onto my hand tight and dragging me into a room where sure enough Enobaria is sitting behind a desk with a serious looking expression on her face. I sit down quickly and place Sae on my lap as she giggles slightly. The Panem anthem suddenly erupts from the screen and Maisie, our stylists, mentors (including our parents) and Effie come rushing into the room. Our parents land on the couch next to me and Sae and everyone else plants themselves down elsewhere.

"First is the district 1 tributes," Enobaria says in a voice that sounds a little too kind. The Panem symbol appears and then all four of the district 1 tributes scores. The two girls both get nine as well as Riley and Nicky gets a ten. Really not too surprising considering that they have trained for a little bit. I would imagine that all of them will do well in these games.

"District 2," we hear Enobaria's voice say and the tributes pictures and scores follow. Cavail gets a ten, Vika gets a nine, Fleur gets an eight and Luke gets a ten. Once again very impressive scores. After Enobaria's words the district 3 tributes appear on the screen with surprisingly good scores. Both get a score of eight. There is a few gasps throughout the room and I feel Sae's hand suddenly grip harder onto mine. I look towards my Mam who gives a short smile before turning back to the screen where the district 4 tributes scores have appeared.

Kai gets a ten, Alyssa gets an eight, Chris gets an eight and Harabel gets the biggest score so far of an eleven. A small smile appears on my face at the idea of another argument between Kai and Harabel. During training I experienced quite a few and with Harabel's words it is quite hard to keep a laugh in whether she intends to make it funny or not.

"Harabel is the fifteenth tribute in history to manage to get a score of eleven," Enobaria shares this small fact which brings a few oohs and ahhs from the stylists. I look over to them and they both give a large wave like I'm sitting about one thousand metres away. I simply smile back and look towards the TV where district 5's scores are coming up, Steen gets a score of seven and Isabelle gets a six. Reasonable scores for tributes from an outer district and probably what is going to be the average scores for the tributes today.

"District 6," Enobaria says and the scores quickly pop up. The boy Apollo has a very disappointing score of two and the girl, Christina, manages to get a seven. The boy from 7, Guire gets a nine and his partner Katri gets an eight as well which beats the district 3 tributes for good none career district scores.

"District 8," the voice comes again. The pictures of two tributes I can hardly remember appear on the screen and not to be horrible but I'm sure they aren't people to watch out for with both Lynette and Collin getting a below average score of five. District 9 on the other hand is about average as the girl Luna, gets a 6, the boy Cole, gets a seven and the little child Ange somehow manages to get a seven herself. How on Earth can a seven year old get a seven? It's not even possible but it does give me hope for Sae who I give a slight squeeze of the hand to.

"District 10," she says. The pictures appear shortly after revealing a three for the boy Harence, an eight for the girl Aurelie and yet another seven for the child of the district, Theodore. Seriously how on Earth are these kids managing to get such good scores? District 11 quickly appear and disappear with Zaria getting another impressive eight, Temur getting a four and Yogev gets a five.

"District 12," she says and my heart begins to beat rapidly. Sae grips on to my hand as tight as she can as our faces appear on the screen and a short scream releases from Sae's mouth as she gets the same score as me, a seven. Maisie on the other hand manages to get an extremely impressive nine and soon enough every single one of us in the room is in one massive group hug. Soon we're all relaxing on the couch chatting away when Effie's voice breaks through.

"Cheers to district 12!"

**A/N: Well that is training completely over and I know everyone will not like their scores but not everyone can get amazing. Any scores which shocked you? Anyway next chapter is the interviews which I'm not sure whether it will be in one chapter or two yet. Any tribute which has not had a POV yet will have one in the interviews, so that's Ruby (1), Joanie (1), Theo (10), Alyssa (4), Collin (8) and Fleur (2). Now I go on holiday mid-week for a week so this will either be the last update for a little bit or the second off last update for a little bit :)**

**Review please!**


	25. Interviews: A Competitive Spirit

**Joanie Greenwood's POV (1):**

The tension between the two groups grows and grows as we stand next to each other in the line for interviews. Of course being from district 1, I am first. I have to impress, show that district 1 deserve the sponsors over district 2. I use my time straightening annoying creases out of my golden yellow dress which falls down just past my ankles to reveal a set of large red heels.

"We got three tens in training Lars," Kai from four suddenly says to the district 3 boy who looks less than bothered. Obviously he is just trying to gloat.

"Yeah, so did I," Nicky suddenly shouts at him.

"Well done Nicky, join our pack while you can," Kai says waving his arms towards the district 2 tributes him and Alyssa.

"Why would I want to be in an alliance with people who got a score of eight," he says pointing at Alyssa and then Fleur.

"Well actually, training scores are irrelevant," Harabel suddenly speaks up and I can't help but let a smile appear across my face. However annoying this girl is with her stupid words she is funny and manages to work Kai up the wrong way. "To be honest, they are quite illogical as..." she begins to carry on.

"Harabel, fuck off!" Kai suddenly screams and there is a sudden scream.

"Mammy says not to use bad words," the little girl from 9, Ange, suddenly screams and we all know who is about to speak up next.

"Harley, Mammy isn't with us anymore," Chris the absolute idiot speaks up. Ange, obviously getting seriously sick of arguing with the idiot just frowns at him and then suddenly her eyebrows quirk up and a small smile appears across her face.

"Sorry big bro, I don't know what I was thinking," she says quietly and nods her head like she is dizzy. What a clever little devil. Who knew that a seven year old from district 9 could exploit someone's weakness. Chris has obviously got something going on wrong in his head and she has took advantage well. "I haven't been feeling very well these past few days," she suddenly says rushing over to Chris and hugging him. "They've put me in these games as a twist after the child from 9 disappeared!" Oh my, how can a seven year old do that? Has someone told her to take advantage of the situation or has her clever little mind managed to figure it out by herself.

"It will be okay Harley," Chris says stroking her hair and I take a chance to look throughout the other tributes who are all smiling for the little girl or standing awkwardly with their mouths open. I expect Harabel to say something but even her lips are curled slightly upwards.

"Can the nice girl from 9 join us in an alliance?" Ange says weeping fake tears. Chris nods his head and Luna runs over into a group hug. As much as district 9 are full of idiots and weaklings they have done well to manipulate a strong character into an alliance with them even if he is mentally unstable.

"Joanie Greenwood, it's interview time," I hear a Capitol voice say. I quickly turn around in my beautiful dress and flash a smile before following him onto the stage. I hear the applause of the audience and pull my smile even wider. Come on Joanie, I can do well. I quickly straighten out a few more creases before I hear the new interviewer for the games, Quio Reatay, introducing herself to the crowd and getting them onto their feet. I catch a quick glimpse of the beautiful woman in her long violet dress and gold necklace.

"Could we all welcome the beautiful Joanie Greenwood," she calls and I'm so overwhelmed. She called me beautiful! I walk slowly onto the stage where the Capitol audience burst into applause. I can't believe it, they love me. I spot people with banners with my name on it everywhere and people chanting my name. "Have a seat," I hear Quio's voice clear above the cheers and I plant myself on the plush pink armchair while she sits on a blue one.

"So Joanie, you seem to have a lot of fans here in the Capitol, what does that mean to you?"

"Everything. It's nice to be accepted, and it's nice to know that these people could possibly help me when it comes to the games."

"Yes, sponsors do come to an importance in the games, how do you think you will do in the first day where you are not aloud sponsors?"

"Well, it's the bloodbath, we'll have gathered enough stuff to settle for the night."

"Ooh, we? Have we got the career pack still?"

"Well, we've got two this year, district 1 verses district two and two tributes from four," I say confidently.

"What a competitive spirit, that's what we like here, don't we?" the crowd burst into applause once again. "So are the two packs sworn enemies?"

"Let me just say that you'll be in for an entertaining bloodbath," I say as evilly as I can with a grin on my face. The crowd erupts like a volcano. People through their arms up in their arms and scream which goes on for quite a few minutes before the rest of the interview concludes with talk about what the difference is between district 1 and the Capitol and how much I like my dress. To be honest most of my interview is taken up by waiting for the crowd to stop applauding. If that isn't a sign of being popular for sponsors I don't know what is.

* * *

**Ruby Dazzle's POV (1):**

Joanie walks off the stage with a large applause and I am quickly taken behind the stage by a Capitol man who does some weird exercise to try and calm me down. Seriously, I didn't even know that I wasn't calm. I feel fine apart from my heart rushing at one hundred miles per hour. It won't be the case tomorrow though when I rip apart that district 11 fool before moving onto the real thing. I'm going to become a firm fan favourite before the games have even begun. I don't need an interview for that, I just need to make history by killing a tribute before the games have begun and Temur is the perfect target. He preserves himself as special and he is all about the honour but he won't have any honour after tomorrow the only way he'll win is if I suddenly get a coma in the middle of the battle and let's be honest what is the odds of that happening? About the odds of Temur winning the games. Pretty much impossible.

I saw the odds board yesterday and was quite shocked and annoyed to see I was sixth favourite, I'm sure that will rise after my battle with Temur, but still surely I should have higher odds than that. The people who had higher were Kai, Harabel, Cavail Nicky and Vika. Seriously I could beat any of them in a fight and if I have anything to do with it all of them will be dead tomorrow apart from Nicky. I'm not cruel enough to kill someone who is in my own alliance, well, not yet anyway. On the other end of the odds board were the children tributes, obviously, but other than that there was the tributes who scored lowest in the sessions, Apollo, Harence and Temur. Quite surprising that they were all boys but that just shows that girl's are starting to dominate. Well, a girl will win the games this year and that will just prove it for any doubters. Other than that on the odds board the only other surprises were Guire and that girl from 12, Maisie, were near the top. In fact they were only just behind me and that is not on.

"Ruby," a voice suddenly takes me out of my extended thoughts. How did I get to thinking about killing Temur to being too close to that girl from 12 on the odds board? Oh well. I quickly look over to the person who called my name and give a small smile.

"I'm ready," I say happily pointing towards my beautiful red dress which goes down to my thighs. This dress is the perfect way of showing off my beauty and my physique.

"Okay, your on in," he begins to motion with his fingers, five, four, three, two, one. I push aside the large curtain and the flashing of cameras startles me for a few seconds before I see Quio and kiss her cheek. I walk to the front of the stage and bask in my glory until the cheering eventually dies down and I sit opposite Quio.

"Your make-up sure does smell nice Ruby," she says pretending to sniff the air.

"Thank you, I can't smell yours but you sure do look beautiful," I respond. Being nice to Quio is a way of getting the Capitol audience to love you, as Quio is probably one of the most popular people in the Capitol being nice to her is only going to do me good.

"Thanks, now onto the actual interview and I think we'll start with the dramatic twist," she says clasping her hands together, "what did you think when your name was called at the chariots?"

"I was just elated, I really couldn't believe that I would have the privilege of showing off my talent before the games have even began."

"Yes, I'm sure being from district 1 you do have quite a bit of talent. Do you think you will win?"

"I wouldn't have volunteered if I didn't think I could win," I reply quickly and Quio laughs a little along with the crowds.

"Ah yes, you did volunteer along with the other three tributes from your district. What is your relationship with them?"

"It's good I suppose. I get on well with all three of them, which is good for an alliance."

"Yes, it's always good to have a strong alliance but you do have rivals in the form of the other strong pack with tributes from district 2 and 4 involved. How do you think you will fare against them?"

"It's hard to pick out which of them will be worthy opponents to us as they all did well in training. You'll just have to wait and see which of us will die in the bloodbath," and with this the Capitol audience begins to scream uncontrollably.

"I'm sure it will be entertaining, well the twist was for the entertainment of the capitolites wasn't it," she says directly to me as a little joke and I laugh and wait for the audience to calm down. "Thank you," Quio says, "now just two more questions for you Ruby. First, well done on your score of nine. Did you enjoy training?"

"Yeah, it gave me an opportunity to check out my opponents and find their weaknesses."

"And finally do you think you can win?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's as simple as that. Ruby Dazzle our second female tribute from district 1."

* * *

**Fleur Delta's POV (2):**

That bitch from 1, Ruby walks past our pack smiling childishly and I can only hope that the idiot from 11, Temur, somehow kills her. I let my eyes follow her as she stand with Joanie waiting for her district partners, one of which is going onto the stage now. Nicky. The boy smiles to the crowd and like his district partners gets a good response by the crowd. Wait until district 2 goes onto the stage, then everyone will know what a good response by the crowd is.

"The district 1 alliance will be victorious in the bloodbath," Nicky says overly confidently.

"No they won't," I hear Kai's voice say and I quickly turn around to see him clenching his fists tightly. "Why are they so confident or themselves when they'll all be dead by tomorrow?" he says angrily. Next to him Harabel just rolls her eyes and Chris who has been tricked by Ange has her wrapped in her arms. I look forward to Riley the only district 1 tribute left in here, his fists are also clenched and his eyes dart between the stage and Kai.

"The Capitol are just amazing," I hear Nicky's voice again. By the way all of these are acting they are surely going to get sponsors and a small part inside of me begins to feel defeat until I realize that all of their sponsors will choose our alliance after we kill them in the bloodbath. All of the rest of the tributes will have to fight between themselves as none of us will have time to do off with any of them. I quickly look down the line of tributes, the only ones I say as small threats are the boys from 7 and 5 and the girls from 12 and 11. Never thought I'd be saying that there is a small threat from someone from 12.

"Could we please welcome onto the stage Riley Stevens," I hear Quio's voice say as Riley disappears off and Nicky walks past us all casually. I resist sticking my foot out to trip him and in stead give a sour smile which I can only hope that he sees as 'see in you at the bloodbath'.

Riley's interview is probably the worst yet as he speaks quite quietly and a lot of people fail to hear what he says. His applause is the worst so far and Vika, my first ally, walks onto the stage in her bright orange sequined dress that seriously demands attention. This girl really wants to me noticed by the crowds and she is really going the right way about it. She gets the best round of applause yet as she walks on and a small smile tugs at my face at the shocked faces of district 1 who have stormed off.

Vika's interview is quite nice actually and it shows the side to her that wants to win the games desperately and the side of her that says she wants to be herself and she doesn't want to have to live up to her parents expectations all of the time. She gets an even larger round of applause as she walks off with a huge smile on her face and I give her a quick pat to the back before I walk onto the stage for my interview. This is my time to shine, to show them that I can win this, just like my Father did. I'll bring pride back to district 2 and in the years to come the other districts will fear us more than they used to.

"Could we please welcome Fleur Delta," I hear Quio's sweet voice announce and I quickly skip onto the stage in my knee length white dress and give a little courtesy to the crowd. I hear some whistles and many cheers before Quio directs me to my chair which is very comfortable. I rest back lazily to make myself at home which gets quite a few laughs from the crowd even if I didn't intend it.

"Hi Fleur, are you having a nice time in the Capitol?"

"Yes, very much so. It's so much different to district 2 and all these lovely people really do make a good impression," I do know how to impress the crowds.

"Well that's very nice of you, what have you enjoyed most here?"

"It has to be the food. It's so much exotic and different to back home. I wish I could have it every," I say a large grin appearing on my face.

"Well that luxury will be yours if you win these games, do you think you have a good chance?"

"Yes definitely, I'm going to try my hardest throughout and I think I impressed in training without showing off everything I can do."

"Oh, so you think you would have got better than an eight if you had tried to the best of your ability?" she asks.

"Of course, I want to give everyone a nice surprise when it comes to the arena."

"Yes, on the topic of the arena, what would you like to see, what type of landscape?"

"Anything would be great, a few buildings would be nice I suppose. I don't mind really, anything will do."

"That's good, I'm sure our gamemakers will surprise you. I'll give you a little hint," she says putting her hand over her mouth. "This year we'll be emphasizing on the Hunger Games," but she wildly shouts games. Games? So we'll have more games to play in the arena? I normally do well in games, I should do well.

"Helpful information," I say vaguely.

"Yes, just one more question, we know that you do have a family member that is a victor, do you think you'll follow in their footsteps?"

"There's no doubt about it," I say cheerily. If only they knew that it was my Dad and not just some random family member.

* * *

**Alyssa Nettra's POV (4):**

After Fleur has came off she is quickly replaced by Cavail, who doesn't have to put on an act. The boy is scary to say the least and only at the age of thirteen. To say I'm worried about being in an alliance with him is an understatement, and the more time I spend with this alliance the more I regret joining it. It would of been fine if we hadn't created a rivalry with district 1 but now we have it's war. Getting an eight in the private sessions didn't help and now district 1 will target me because I am weaker than Cavail, Luke, Kai and Vika. They are have a better chance of taking me out of the equation while escaping with their own lives. Hopefully, as bad as it sounds, they'll go after Fleur. My plan is to escape the bloodbath with as many people in my alliance as possible then run during the night, staying would be almost plotting my own death. Cavail would soon get bored of not killing if we hadn't in a while so he'd just turn on one of us and that one of us would be me.

"I'll win," I suddenly hear Cavail's voice say to Quio. My eyes jerk towards the screen where Cavail sits confidently glaring at everybody. The audience seem to love it though, they all like the brutal ones, the ones that are willing to give the audience a good show by torturing a little kid. I could never do that, which once again begs the question, why on Earth am I in this alliance? I guess I had planned to kill them in their sleep but I have since found out that they will be too clever for such a trick. I guess I also just wanted to get on Kai's good side. I didn't want to end up like Harabel who he plans to kill in the worst way possible. Most of all though, I guess I just wanted to give myself a chance of winning. If the people of district 4 didn't volunteer for me they must think that I have a chance.

Then there is the reasons why I have to win. Only two reasons. To save my Mother's life, but in the process I will effectively be taking away thirty three other kid's lives. I have to know that it's my Mam I need to care about though. On the brink of death there is only me who will be able to pay for a special doctor or something and then there's the other reason which is a little less selfless. To save my own life. Not only from the cruel death at the hands of some tribute but if I win to save my self from facing what my Mam must face because I know it must be horrible. I have to help.

"Please welcome Luke Viper," I suddenly hear Quio shout. The screen shows Luke flash a smile to the crowd before walking out happily where he receives quite a large round of applause. Luke's interview is quite quick, with once again the alliance competition coming up. I'll try and venture away from that in the interview, my only plan is to steal the Capitol's hearts.

Next up is the two district 3 tributes who both got the same score as me in training. They're apparently just as worthy to be in the career alliance as me. First is the girl, Jesseca. She talks happily about her dancing and how in district 3 she loved to dance but work with technology at the same time. Throughout she hides how she managed to get such a good score and soon her district partner is sitting in the same seat she was. Lars takes the cool approach to the interview and the Capitol actually seem very impressed. He talks about his love for his little sister and his life back home, his parents deaths and finally the thing which seems a bit strange, his love for fire. The interview ends with Quio telling him she hopes that he manages to experience his love for fire in the arena and my district is next.

Harabel is up first and as much as a bitch the girl is (she did smash a plate over my head), I end up laughing at points as she is the first person to ruin Quio's flow of questions. Most of the questions are answered with the words "illogical" and "irrelevant" and however much Quio tries to get her to answer she just repeats her words. The Capitol surprisingly think that this is some massive joke of Harabel's and are left in fits of laughter. Harabel is obviously a favourite with the crowd having got an eleven in training, I believe that our escort, Sea, will probably get her the sponsors seeing as she doesn't have a mentor to sort all of that out for her.

"Alyssa, your turn," a man's voice says and I am quickly whisked away in my long sea green dress.

"Please welcome, Alyssa Nettra," Quio shouts and I almost flow onto the stage with my dress oddly rippling at the bottom. It does look like I am water though so I'm not complaining. "Have a seat Alyssa," Quio quickly says and looks towards the watch on her wrist.

"Hello Alyssa, so let's get started. Are you having a nice time in the Capitol?"

"Yeah it's beautiful but I do miss home," I trail off.

"Of course it must be difficult not seeing your family?"

"Especially my Mam," I say hoping that she is going to try and get me to expand.

"Any reason especially?" Jackpot!

"My Mam's," I stop and wipe a real tear away from my eye that I never thought was going to appear, "very ill, on the brink of death."

"Oh, it's a real shame to hear about that," Quio says leaning forward and hugging me which gets a cheer from the crowd. "I'm sure you'll do her proud."

"Yeah, I'll win for her and then we'll get the right stuff to save her."

"That's the spirit. So what do you think of the competition?"

"Well I've got my alliance," Oh, why did I just say that.

"Yes, we've heard about this alliance."

"Yeah, you are in for a thriller on day one," I say and once again the cheering erupts and fills up the rest of my interview.

"Let's have a round of applause for Alyssa Nettra!"

**A/N: Okay, I didn't want to put all the interviews in one so I put the four careers in one chapter and the next chapter will be from the POV's of Collin Etheren (8) and Theodore Mckee (10). Also I wanted to give you an update because I'm going on holiday in two days and there won't be an update for a while I wouldn't think unless I some how write it. So I hoped you liked the chapter.**

**Review please.**


	26. Interviews: Hope

**Collin Etheren's POV (8):**

If I knew how much the games would change me I would never have volunteered, but then if Josh wasn't reaped I wouldn't have had to volunteer in the first place. After I first volunteered I thought that the boy would never forgive me and I just had to bring him here as my mentor so I convince him that I can win. That's where I have changed. I have become determined and only tried to see the other tributes as competitors, this has faltered slightly though as my relationship with Lynette has expanded to good friends. I have had to drop my care-free attitude in order to succeed in training and I have done my best not to stand out from the rest while still trying to make an impression. I guess it's my personality that's changed the most though, I used to be the cheery type who was always up for a laugh and a joke but now the only people I am talking to is people I'm deeming necessary to talk to and most of the talk is quite formal as well.

"Let's just say the odds are certainly in my favour," I hear an arrogant voice say and without even looking up know the owner will be Kai. The boy is looking quite pleased with himself on the stage and is an obvious crowd favourite. For the rest of the interview he just plays the act of showing off how amazing he is and he doesn't even try to hide which weapons he plans to use. To be honest he basically tells us what he plans to do at the bloodbath but that was quite obvious anyway seeing as probably plans to kill as many people as possible.

Kai soon exits the stage and is replaced with one of his district partners, Chris. Well this should certainly be interesting. Since I saw this boy at the reaping I was honestly quite intrigued as I noticed his superstition but of recent something has went seriously wrong with his mind and he now has been tricked into thinking that the little girl from district 9 is his sister, Harley, even though it is quite clear that her name is Ange. I notice everyone else has averted their attention to the screen and from the start everything goes a bit weirdly as Chris is faced with the question of what he thought of the twist (referring to Temur and Ruby). Chris thinks she means Harley (also known as Ange) being taking into the games though and he begins to say it was the district 9 girl's fault for disappearing. Unlike the rest of us back stage the audience are clueless to what on Earth the boy is going on about. So the remainder of the interview is spent with Quio and probably all of the Capitol trying to figure out why he is being so weird. Quio eventually decides to prove that it is all a massive joke but I think that I can well and truly say that Chris has cocked up his interview big style.

The whispers are sent around the room quite quickly and Chris walks past us all looking quite confused. "Good luck with your interview Harley," he says to Ange who simply gives him a quick hug and rolls her eyes. I wonder what the real Harley is thinking about this whole situation, I was told that she was his mentor but is just as confused to what has happened to him as the rest of us.

As soon as the commotion about Chris has calmed down our attention has turned to district 5. The girl, Isabelle, walks on in a long white dress which flows behind her. The audience seem to warm to her lovely nature and the interview is actually quite sweet. Next up is her district partner, Steen, who is dressed as your average gentleman. He wears a top hat and instead of carrying around that bo staff he is normally seen with he is carrying a cane with a white tipped edge. Steen's interview reflects how he is dressed and he tries to be polite throughout, he says "thank you" quite a bit and talks about how he wishes that all of the tributes would just get on with one another until the games start. As if that would ever happen.

The two of them walk past us all chatting happily about something and are replaced by the girl from district 6, Christina. As of late the girl hasn't really stuck out to me and until she got a good score in training I had already predicted that she would be a bloodbath. It seems that is not the case though and her alliance with the boy from district 7 and the girl from district 12 is certainly one to look out for. The start of her interview is Quio and Christina talking about her dress. The district 6 girl is wearing a very pretty long purple gown. Her hair is up in a fancy bun type do with the purple ends of her hair spread out fan style sticking up at the top of the bun. The gown starts out tight at the top but fans out around the waist line and comes down to the ground in a wavy foldish style. She is also wearing shiny silver heels and quite a bit of make-up. Other than that she talks about her token and what life is like back in district 6. Her district partner fails to impress as the audience were less than impressed with his terrible training score. The boy is quite hesitant about what he says throughout and the interview ends with him pondering on a question.

"Who do you think is probably going to get sponsors then?" I hear Lynette say and I turn around to her. I'm about to answer her question when I see that glint in her eyes again, that glint that she had when we ruined the chariot rides. It's strange, almost rebellious if I had to put a word on it.

"I think the careers mostly, but district 3 were also quite good," I say quite quickly before turning back round where I can see the district 7 female talking about how she is a daredevil back home.

"Do you think I'll get sponsors?" she asks suddenly sounding quite worried.

"Sure," is all I can come up with. In all honesty I'm not sure if she will get sponsors. She's either been seen as the feisty bitch who ruined the chariot rides or a little girl who is just worried about all of this. I turn my attention back to the screen where Guire is now on. His interview is all based around his underdog image. How no-one will expect him to do as well as he will do and then Lynette's called up onto the stage. I forget to give her good luck but as soon as she gets onto the stage it seems that she doesn't need it. The Capitol seem to love her feisty attitude towards Quio and her reluctantly to answer the questions. She manages to give the crowd a little smile after each question and she leaves with quite a big round of applause.

"Good luck," she says coming off. I manage to give a quick smile before walking onto the stage where my destiny awaits.

"Could we please welcome, Collin Etheren of district 8," Quio surprisingly not sounding tired at all after so many interviews. I quickly flip over my golden medal (my token that Josh gave me) to reveal the snake emblem and begin to walk onto the stage where Quio grabs my hand and leads me to my seat.

"Hello Collin, that is a very nice medal you've got there. What is it off?"

"I'm not sure really," I say with a half giggle, "I just know that my friend Josh gave it to me as my token and I just thought it was quite nice."

"Yes, it is quite nice and how could we not forget your friend Josh that you valiantly volunteered for at the reaping, what made you volunteer?"

"It was just in the spur of the moment, I couldn't watch my best friend be taken away so I had to. I've known him since I was just a little boy."

"It was a kind gesture, so what is life like living in textiles district?"

"Well, obviously it's a bit more ideal for girls," I say but stop because the audience burst into laughter. It wasn't that funny. "But, at least we get to make all these beautiful clothes that you are all wearing today," with that the audience begin to clap madly and I begin to feel I have got them all on my side.

"Yes we have to thank your district for that," she says giggling, "have you managed to make an alliance?"

"No, I haven't actually. I did plan to but then I guess it might be better to try and get though this on my own."

"And, do you think you can win?"

I hesitate before answering, "I can only hope."

* * *

**Theodore Mckee's POV (10):**

"So, what's your angle for the interview?" Aurelie asks breaking the silence that has been hanging around this place for a little bit now. Basically, now that all of the interesting districts have been on all the other tributes have escaped up to their rooms and they were the ones who were making all of the noise really.

"I'll just be myself, I don't want to give anything away," I say pulling my crisp white shirt a little bit further back. My stylist decided so that I look more adorable I should wear adult's clothing and it has worked so far as quite a few of the other tributes have said I look cute. Aurelie acknowledges what I said with a nod and drags me into a small hug. Katri, who has decided to join our alliance as she is quite interested in starting a rebellion is also standing by so she can watch our interview.

As much as we all want a rebellion we have nothing planned, the only thing I have in mind is to try and band together as many people as I can at the end and somehow try to escape the arena. I know it is highly unrealistic but Nana Bets always said I had to hope. Hope can take you a long way in life, it did for Nana Bets anyway. As my mind wanders to Nana Bets I begin to think where she is again. From the first day when I came to the Capitol, I have continuously been looking for excuses to leave my room to look for her with Brianne but however much we have been looking there has been no finding. I'm guessing if she hasn't been made into one of those poor avoxes then she will be kept prisoner somewhere. The whole thing seems entirely wrong though, what Nana did was ages ago and what she did was right anyway. I can't help but think that at the age of ten, I know too much.

I'm brought out of my thoughts by the little giggle of the girl from district 9, Luna, who has just appeared on the stage. Throughout the interview I can't help but think that this girl is just like Brianne. She's care-free, she sounds adventurous but relaxed at the same time. Her interview is really quite nice and normal compared to some of the others that have been on so far and if mine was to go as fluently as hers I'd be quite happy. I dread what will happen when her dainty district partner, Ange, comes to get interviewed. Chris has already caused enough confusion and now this girl has to decide whether she play along with the little act to continue to fool Chris or she begins to tell the story of her plans and hopes that Chris won't hear.

First though Luna's other district partner, Cole, comes onto the stage with a large cheeky smile spread across his face. The boy has been quite quiet throughout training but I was the one lucky person who managed to see through him slightly when I say him pull the prank on the district 1 tributes. He has single handedly managed to turn the two groups on one another and has probably saved many of the outer district tributes from dieing in the bloodbath. It really does seem that district 9 are quite clever.

His interview is actually quite funny as he cracks jokes with Quio while trying to act respectful the whole time. He comments on how lovely everyone is the whole time and seems to be trying to get everyone on his side. His interview ends with a joke which puts the audience in a good mood as Ange walks onto the stage. Gossiping erupts throughout the crowd and the interview starts swiftly.

"Ange, would you like to clear everything up about Chris?" is the first question Quio asks probably for the audiences sake.

"Of course," she says sweetly and the audience begin to "awwww", "I'm actually Chris' sister Harley and I think that's enough explanation," she says giggling. Does she seriously think that will convince them? I wonder what the everyone back home in district 9 will be thinking? How about her family? Unless it was her mentor that told her to take advantage of the situation.

"So, how were you in district 9?" Quio says clearly not believing her but Ange simply shrugs her shoulders and to avoid any more confusion Quio quickly changes the subject to something about the Capitol. I turn my face to Chris who looks slightly confused but still has a smile on his face.

"How can a little girl do that?" I say as she leaves the stage.

"I'm not sure, but you have to applaud her," Aurelie says gripping onto my hand slightly as she is taken away for her interview. I cross my fingers, strangely enough, hoping that she will do well and as she walks on to the stage the crowd begin to clap quite wildly. Her interview goes well from the start and she finishes the interview with a line that I'm sure will be well remembered "The Games, are games and I always win games." I begin to clap by myself but I think Harence joins in just to along with that father figure thing which I personally think is quite unbelievable as he never really talks to me.

Aurelie soon comes off and is replaced by Harence. "Well done," I say quickly and she gives me a big hug.

"Just be your adorable self," she says before running off to Katri who is standing by the large screen back stage. My adorable self? I guess I can do that. I walk forward to the front of the queue and wait while Harence just stands sits there and tries to act nice and happy but really he just sounds like some depressed kid, fair enough he is being thrown into a death match but he could at least try a bit harder.

As his interview concludes I mount the stage and wait for Quio's words. "Please welcome, little Theodore Mckee from district 10," she says brightly. I walk onto the stage in my too big satin blue suit and try to look as adorable as I can. Quio sits me down quite quickly and pinches my cheek.

"Isn't he just adorable," she says and all the crowd begin to agree with their cheers. "So Theo, your only ten years old. How does it feel to be the first ten year old ever in the Hunger Games?" Seriously? Does she expect me to burst into a fit of joy because I'm going to my prominent death at the age of ten. I'm so privileged. I feel like completely making her look like a fool but she actually seems quite nice.

"Well, I would have preferred to have been an older age but I guess it's nice to make history," I say trying to get across the point I don't want to be here still.

"Yes, are you enjoying it here though?"

"Certainly, it's great. The food's great, the people are great. I just miss my Nana."

"Well, I'm sure she'll miss you back in district 10, what is it like in your district?" she asks clearly clueless to the fact that my Nana is being held captive here in the Capitol.

"It's lovely. I'm fond of animals so it's fantastic and I'm always having good times with my best friend, Brianne."

"Oh it sounds lovely, are you sure you and Brianne aren't more than friends?"

"For sure, me and Brianne are just great friends," I say trying to sound as confident as possible but for the first time something feels weird in my stomach. I'm sure I don't fancy Brianne. Do I?

"Much time for that when your older," yeah if I survived the games, "so have you made any alliances?"

"Yeah, I'm with the girl from my district and someone else."

"Interesting, I look forward to finding out. How do you feel about the act there will be a lot of twists in the arena?"

"It will make it more interesting, I guess. I just hope I'm not affected by any of them."

"Yep, what would be the ideal twist for you?" Oh, so they might actually take what I say into consideration.

I think before answering, "If they said everyone in an alliance could win."

"Yes, that would be great, personally do you think you can win?"

"I can only hope."

**A/N: So, I said last chapter was the last update but as I go away tomorrow I decided to write this chapter so it's set up for the Ruby/Temur battle chapter when I get back. So this is the last chapter for over a week and after that updates will be slower because I will be going back to school a bit after. **

**Thanks to everyone who is reviewing and vote on the poll on my profile. Review please.**


	27. More Than A Game

**A/N: I'm back. Yes, I haven't updated in ages but I told most of you about my laptop and stuff. I wrote this a while back but didn't have time to post it. So, without further ado this is Ruby and Temur's battle from the POV of Lars Staal. Enjoy.**

**Lars Staal's POV (3):**

"Come on Lars, get up," I hear Jess say groggily as she pushes open my door and comes in to open the blinds. My eyes open at the exact wrong time and the light pierces my eyes in a way unimaginable, probably because of my severe lack of sleep last night. I did want to get some sleep but it seemed that the nightmares were coming already, a picture stains my mind of a moment in my dream where I was forced to kill Jess when we were down to the final two. Is that what happens to victors? Scarred for life with the pictures of the innocent ones you killed.

"Lars!" I suddenly hear my little sister scream from the room opposite mine and she soon runs in and jumps on top of me tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What's the matter Bella?" I ask frantically looking around for someone that might have upset her but only Jesseca is in the room.

"I had a nightmare," she says burying her head into my chest, "about you dieing today."

"Don't worry," is all I say because I don't want to say I'll be coming back in front of Jesseca. For quite a bit Bella just stays there until Kop, our escort, calls for us to come to breakfast and she quickly jumps off of me. Breakfast is fine really, we eat and talk but try to not talk about the fact that both me and Jesseca could be going to our deaths today.

"So, what time do we have to go?" I ask to no-one in particular as long as I get an answer.

"Well, the hovercraft is picking all the tributes up at one o' clock because Ruby and Temur are fighting first in approximately one hour.

"Do we get to watch it?" Jesseca asks half munching on a slice of toast.

"Sorry Jess," her Dad says ruffling her hair, "you's don't get to watch it but we are going down now and we'll tell you who won." Stupid really. They don't let us watch it but they let our mentors and escorts who could easily record it for us or tell us exactly what happened. The rest of breakfast is ate in silence and after lounging around on the couch for a little bit everybody but me and Jesseca go off to watch the Ruby and Temur battle.

"So, who do you think will win?" Jesseca asks after a little bit of silence.

"Ruby, I guess. Has to be done though," I say shrugging my shoulders once and Jesseca just stares at me blankly. "I'm going for a fag," I say pushing my hands into my pockets and begin to walk towards the door when Jesseca grabs hold of me.

"No, your not," she says a little too persistently.

"Jesseca, I'll do what I want," I say a little angrily pushing past her.

"Do you not understand what smoking does to you?" she says just as angrily as I did.

"Yeah, but who cares I'm going to be dead in a week or so anyway," I respond pulling open the door.

"And what sort of attitude is that to have?"

"I don't care," I say walking into the hallway now.

"You're not going to have a cigarette to smoke on in the arena," she says and it's a valid point. "You'll just make it worse by wanting to have one more badly."

"Fine, I won't have one but I'm still going up to the roof. I want some fresh air," I say finally beginning to walk away. I click the button for the elevator and about a minute later when it opens up I'm surprised to see Jesseca jump in next to me.

"I have to make sure, don't I?" she says in a half giggle while pressing the button on the side of the elevator. Quickly, it shoots up to the roof and a cool breeze fills the air as the doors open to reveal the skyscrapers of the Capitol. The first thing that crosses my mind is the thought of a flame flickering in the air and as I feel safe in the company of Jesseca, I flick out my lighter and just place the flame on. I watch with a smile on my face as it flickers on off and licks against the air. With the lighter still on I wander over to the edge of the roof and look across to the Capitol citizens who happily move about talking cheerily to each other.

"You never told me, why do you like fire so much?" she says coming over and placing her little finger above the flame. It seems to spread up to try and touch her skin but then quickly disappears as I place it back in my pocket.

"I just think it's amazing," I start off with not really knowing what to say. "The way the you can do so many beautiful things with fire and it's beautiful itself. Just look at it," I say excitedly pulling the lighter back out and flicking it on. I look happily back to Jesseca who looks a little confused so I take the lighter over to her and begin to wave it around her.

"What else?" she says sounding quite interested now.

"The light, it shows me pictures sometimes of things I want to see and it's got so much power. It can destroy something in one explosion. Don't you just love explosions?"

"Yeah, they're great," she says quietly before wandering off to the other edge of the roof. I'm about to pull my cigarette out and secretly have a few puffs but her manic shouts suddenly distract me.

"Lars, come here quick!" she shouts and I quickly rush over to see what she is going on about. Suddenly a voice breaks out above the crowd announcing something which from up here is inaudible but the screams coming from the crowd suggest it is something very exciting. I still don't really know why Jesseca wanted me to come over so badly until I notice the massive screen slowly flickering on until I can see the image of none other than a chess board.

At first there is nothing just some serious music playing in the background. Then many pieces begin to appear up onto the chess board apart from two, the kings. The Capitol begin to make loads of weird sounds and as I look to Jess strangely she just looks on as if she knows what is about to come next. What, are the Capitol mad chess freaks? I know we get taught how to play chess at an early age for the times we get bored but I thought that was just in district 3. Is it quite popular in all the districts. Suddenly the music ups its volume quite a bit and Jesseca looks to me with sorrow in her eyes.

"You know what's coming next, don't you?" she says placing her head in her hands. No, I don't know what is coming next. I don't really want to look stupid though so I stay quiet and wait. The music continues to up it's tempo until I hear the voice say something again.

"What did he say?" I ask quickly but Jess simply shrugs her shoulders. My question is answered though as the final two pieces of the game emerge onto the chess board. It seems that we are more than pieces in a game than we think. Ruby and Temur stand facing opposite each other. Both simultaneously pick up the axe that appears in front of them and a small countdown ends to signal that this game has truly begun. I look to Jess for what will happen next but I quickly see Ruby say something and one of her pawn's moves forward a space.

"They have to stay still don't they?" I ask knowing the answer. "They'll have to stand there as those chess pieces as the opposition kills them," I sigh. "This is more of a game than we thought." All the while I speak Jess stays silent as Temur and Ruby both move a few more pawns forward each. The first different move of the game is when Ruby moves her bishop forward a few spots but it is quickly taken away from the game by one of Temur's little pawns.

Suddenly the music and sound bellows louder and we begin to hear the two's voices much more clearly. Ruby calls for her other bishop to move forward which is also quickly taken out and if the sweat on Temur's face is anything to go by I think that he is quite worried. The girl wears a menacing grin on her face all the while and it's hard to tell whether she knows what she is doing or whether she is just looking forward to decapitating the boy.

"Move third pawn forward," Temur suddenly says and I realize that all of the pawns are labelled with numbers. The figure moves forward slowly and without any hesitation Ruby shouts an almost inaudible demand which results in Temur's little pawn being smashed to pieces.

The game continues for some time and after about twenty minutes or so Ruby is left with herself, obviously, her two rooks, her queen and two pawns while Temur is left with himself, his queen, one rook, three pawns, one knight and one bishop. To be honest the playing fields look quite even by the way all of the figures are standing but by now you can see that Temur is shaking physically. Although he is playing quite well you would think he had never played a game of chess by the way he is acting.

"Move rook forward three spaces," Ruby says while the camera focuses on Temur who's teeth begin to chatter. The camera quickly flickers to the whole board as the bishop smashes Temur's queen leaving him looking defenceless.

"Move fifth pawn forward," he says looking around madly. At the beginning of the game I kept on asking why he didn't just run but just like in the games it seems that unless he commands himself to move there is mines around him.

"Move second rook to the right four spaces," Ruby says wiping out his fifth pawn.

"Move sixth pawn forward one space," he says croakily and within another few seconds that pawn is wiped out by Ruby's queen. Within another few goes he has lost his final pawn and his knight while Ruby has lost one of her rooks and one of her pawns.

"Let's change this around a bit," the voice suddenly says excitedly and the Capitol burst into cheers. I stare at the screen as Ruby and Temur disappear beneath the chess board before appearing again but this time Ruby is the queen of hers and as Temur's queen is gone he is his rook.

"Move myself forward six spaces to the diagonal," Ruby says gripping onto the axe in her hand tightly. For the first time we see destruction from one of them as Ruby smashes apart the figure leaving Temur with just himself and his king. I wonder what will happen if his king dies, will he just collapse or something?

"Move myself three spaces to the left," Temur says sounding honestly quite sad now as he is forced to smash apart Ruby's final pawn. This leaves Temur with himself and his king and Ruby with herself, her king and a rook. The next few minutes are Temur frantically moving around his king until it is check. Temur looks at the piece to try and make the right move and is about to say something when Ruby begins to speak.

"Make sure you make the right decision Temur, we wouldn't want you getting hurt, would we?" she says in a little baby voice.

"Move king right," he says determined and without properly looking at the chess board I hear the crowd beginning to ooh below me. He's made the wrong decision. No, he's going to die. Poor kid. I begin to pull out a cigarette in the stress but Jess nudges me slightly and it falls off the roof and begins to bounce up and down on the forcefield.

"Move myself forward one space," she says and quickly smashes the piece up.

"Ruby Dazzle wins but as Temur Samarkar is not destroyed the two will be released to fight with their weapons," a commentator suddenly informs us and within a second Ruby begins to charge at Temur with her axe in hand. Temur quickly runs away towards Ruby's old king and begins to climb on top of it when Ruby swings her axe smashing it in two. The boy unluckily falls onto his stomach and Ruby quickly sits on his back.

"She's going to torture him," Jess says angrily. "Why doesn't she just kill him quickly, save him the pain." She's exactly right as Ruby just sits there for a bit as he tries to squirm about underneath him.

"Poor, little Temur. Do you want this over with?" and with that she lodges the axe onto his wrist, instantly chopping off his hand. A shrill scream is released from his mouth and in another swift motion she chops his arm off which quickly changes one of the white chess board squares to a bright red. Even if Temur did manage to get out now it would be useless, he wouldn't be able to win the real games with one arm. Make that no arms as Ruby quickly chops off his other and begins to carve slightly into his neck.

"Just kill me," he screams and that are his last words as Ruby pushes the axe through his neck with some force and the cannon booms.

"She sickens me," Jess says angrily before storming off to the elevator. I quickly follow her knowing that Ruby is just one competitor in these games. This is going to be a lot harder than I would have ever imagined because we are not just tributes, we are pieces in these games.

**A/N: Hope you liked it because I enjoyed writing it. Temur's creators idea for the arena was a chess board so I thought it would only be perfect to have that as the 'mini arena' here. So our first tribute has gone by the hands of Ruby. Temur was a character that I wanted to keep past the bloodbath but once he was drawn against Ruby I had to let the poor, honourable guy go. He's been a good character though. Thanks for reading and please review! :)**


	28. Bloodbath: Have A Nice Stay

**A/N: This is not the whole of the bloodbath, it is only part 1. This chapter contains quite a few deaths and to the creators of those characters, sorry, but there can only be one winner.**

**Christina Grant's POV (6):**

"So you'll promote me to all your friends, ask them to sponsor me, and my alliance, make sure we're alright," I say quickly clinging onto my stylist's black dress. The woman I haven't even bothered to remember the name of nods her head smiling eagerly before pushing me other to the tube on the far corner of the room. "I'm going to be okay, aren't I?" I ask to either myself or my stylist but nor I or her reply. I tug on my jacket nervously before placing my foot into the tube. A long swishing sound erupts into my eardrums and with one last look at the room around me I shoot up the tube.

I take one last breath before thinking of what the arena will look like. What if I step off the platform before the gong rings out? But as I rise onto my platform I know there is no worry of that as I rise up into none other than an elevator. I step off the little circle and walk towards the metal doors, stopping me from breaking out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the 76th Hunger Games begin," a robotic voice says and I shoot my head up to a little speaker in the corner of the elevator. No, I can't even see my fellow tributes. I won't even know where my allies are when I leave this elevator. What if a career is next to me, ready to jump out. This can't be happening. I begin to grind my sharp nails down the elevator door hoping for some way out but anything seems fruitless as my head turns towards the side of the elevator where I can see the numbers counting down. Forty- two seconds. In less than a minute, I might be dead...

The thought makes me fall down onto my bottom against the wall and on my way down I hear a little ting. A little ting that I heard when I was in the justice building back home. The one where you press which floor you want to go to. Surely they aren't giving us an option. My hopes begin to rise but I know I can't let them. They would never give us an option. Not in the arena. It's the gamemakers choice, what will happen to us. My attention diverts back to the door and a creaking sound begins to rack the elevator.

Movement. It's moving.

Ten. It's only ten seconds left before those doors will open and I'll be let loose. In a matter of seconds blood will stain these grounds. My ears twitch slightly as the elevator comes to a gentle stop and the cannon rings. I expect the metal doors to crash open and all hell to break loose but instead I witness them open casually and after a few moments of silence hell breaks loose.

"Welcome to the hotel, have a nice stay," the robotic voice announces cruelly.

It's a hotel. We're on the ground floor and there is thirty three elevators. The room is enormous though and as I look at the Cornucopia centered in the middle I catch my first glimpse of Maisie charging into the Cornucopia and grabbing a backpack.

With no time to spare, I run towards the middle where many tributes are beginning to arrive. My heart beats faster and faster as my feet pound off the marble floors. I grab hold of a long case quick enough and hear a scream. My attention diverts once again to an image I didn't want to see. The boy from twelve, Merriet. The scene unfolding in front of me reveals the boy from four, Kai, tearing him to shreds with a mace. It lodges repetitively into his bones over and over until the lad is nothing but a pile of crushed bones and spilt blood. More screams ring around the place and Maisie grabs hold of my arm.

"What are you doing, just standing there?" she says quickly pulling us over towards the 'canteen' of the hotel. We hide behind a set of beautiful plants while she piles food into her bag.

"I was just in a bit of shock," I say in a lost voice.

"Christina, there's no time for that in the arena. It's a battle to the death, people are going to die," she says before tugging my arm a bit. I'm soon following her around a few corners until we come to Guire who has a short gash on his cheek and a small parcel.

"What's that?" I ask.

"It's an electronic trap," he says showing me a label like it is newly bought.

"Good work, come on we better get going," Maisie says quickly before the three of us begin to jog along a hallway where a whole lot of hotel rooms await us.

* * *

**Zaria Paska's POV (11):**

I wouldn't have volunteered if I knew what would happen. But, I did know what was going to happen. It all happened so fast. The lift door opened and within a few seconds I could hear screams. It was just instinct that made me press the 'close doors' button. Now, I'm too scared to open them back up as I hear screams and bangs. How many people have died? I press my back against the wall and listen as the clash of some swords fills my ears.

I hover my finger over the button wanting to open it. I wonder if anyone else is in my position, just waiting until the bloodbath goes. I don't even know what's out there, I just saw a glimpse of another elevator and I closed it immediately.

I wonder if my Mam is watching this, watching me tuck myself away while the battle commences. I wonder if my district is ashamed of me for hiding. I know I'll have to come out at some point. There's no food here, there's nothing to drink. Surely if I stayed in here for longer than they'd like me to they'd get me out somehow. I'm sure the cameras aren't focused on me anyway. I pick myself back up off the gleaming floor and press my hands against the metal door. It vibrates slightly and I press me eye up against the slight crack.

I can't actually see anything though so I sit back down on the floor and begin to fiddle with my shoelace. I don't have long to fiddle with my lace though as a knife blade protrudes through an elevator door and I foolishly scream.

"Oh, who's in there," I hear the voice of the girl who murdered my district partner.

"Piss off Ruby," I say in the toughest voice I can as I rise to my feet.

"Feisty one are you," she says and with that the knife is slowly pushed all the way through the metal doors leaving a frightening hole. The knife quickly drops to the floor and I grab it before backing myself up against the elevator door so Ruby can't see me. I try to stop breathing but after a bit it becomes hard and a knife is shoved into the elevator and once again clatters off the floor.

"Don't think I can't see you," Ruby sneers before shoving an axe through the metal as well. The hole soon becomes extremely wide and I step away from the metal door in fear.

"Oh, it's little Zaria," she says pushing her arm in and pressing the 'open doors' button. "I had fun killing your district partner by the way," she says evilly before flinging a knife at me. I quickly duck and grab hold of her legs sending her with me to the floor. I pick up the knife and stab her arm but that is as far as I get before a knife appears in my stomach and I pick myself up.

"You bitch!" I scream at her and begin to walk out of the door before collapsing onto the ground. She harshly kicks me in the back for running off, leaving me to die. People run past me thinking I'm dead and I accept it now. I thought I stood a chance in these games but I was wrong. I fooled myself into believing I could win but I know I can't. My eyes begin to fold over until I feel that painful kick again and Ruby appears.

"Not dead yet Zaria, I just thought I'd show you that district 11 won't win this year," she whispers to me and I spot Yogev. Little Yogev, he murmurs something and I begin to crawl over to him.

"Are you okay Yogev?" I ask holding out my hand but Ruby quickly stomps on it and in one swift motion stabs Yogev in the stomach. I scream, my last scream because as I hold out my hand to grab his lifeless body she kicks me in the face and I see the axe brought down upon my torso.

* * *

**Nicky Osgood's POV (1):**

My knees press against my chest as I sit in the back of the Cornucopia next to my fellow district partners, Riley and Joanie. We watch as Ruby stalks back towards us and she wipes some tributes blood on her clothes before coming to sit with us.

"So," Ruby says in a very eager voice. "When do we attack them?" she says pointing to the other career pack who simply look quite clueless to where we are. Apart from them there is still quite a few tributes stalking around the place as this hotel really is quite confusing. It appears that hardly anyone has left this part of the hotel yet. Well, apart from the dead people's souls.

"Anytime like the present," Joanie says in a not very confident voice.

"Who's blood is that?" Riley suddenly asks completely veering off the subject. Unlike us three who bundled in here straight away it seems like Ruby has been busy killing some non-careers.

"Oh, I just finished off the rest of district 11," she says very casually. "Do you wanna go now?" she says sounding bored.

"Yeah," I speak for the first time. I pick up my mace and begin to move further and further forward until I am inches away from the light of the hotel. I motion the numbers three, two and one on my fingers before launching forward and driving my mace right into Fleur Delta's skull. The girl collapses on the ground in an instance and if it wasn't for it being the bloodbath her cannon will have just went. I quickly push her body out of the way and in a matter of moments the battle begins.

With there only being four of us against five of them we are already at a disadvantage but it seems like Kai doesn't want to get involved in the fight just yet as he backs off and waits while the rest of us begin to fight. My first opponent it seems is the familiar face of Luke Viper. He unlike me has a not very good weapon, a tiny knife. My heart races as we begin to lunge at each other every now and again and it isn't long until the first bit of blood is spilt, but to my surprise it is mine. His little knife finds it's way through the shield of my mace and into my thigh. The pain stings and I toss the knife aside leaving Luke defenceless.

I take my opportunity and throw the mace right at his skull but it skims past and lodges itself cleanly into the closest elevator.

"I guess we'll be fighting without weapons," he says laughing madly.

"That we will," I shout as my fingers wrap around his sad excuse for an arm. I dig my nails (which I have sharpened especially for this moment) into his weak biceps and he falls to the floor underneath my weight. His teeth soon sink into my hand and I let go. His hands wrap around my neck and now it is me who bites him. My teeth rip into his arm and tear off part of his skin making him release a manly cry. He slams my head against the marble floor and for a second, and only a second, everything goes black.

I lunge forward gripping his head and hitting it continuously against the floor until his lifeless body fails to make any more rasping breaths.

"Don't mess with me," I spit at my second kill, both from district 2. This bloodbath has only just begun.

**A/N: So, that is part one of the bloodbath and as Nicky says it has only just begun. There will be more deaths next chapter. Hoped you like the idea for the arena. Okay, so the deaths. **

**Firstly, Merriet. I chose from near the beginning he would be a bloodbath character as I wanted to break up the brother/sister relationship. **

**Yogev... that death was so cruel and I didn't like writing it but I also wanted to wipe out a whole district to show how cruel Ruby is. Also I needed atleast one kid to die or it wouldn't be realistic. **

**Then Zaria, she broke down. She was trapped. I gave her a good POV though. I wasn't really sure why, but I needed bloodbaths and as I said I wanted to wipe out a district.**

**Fleur, well I needed the battle to start from somewhere and characters were going to die from either side. She just happened to be not as popular as some of the others. Sorry.**

**And Luke, I didn't want to kill him but I guess I did. He was a good character but he was not as strong as others in the battle.**

**So, next chapter is the second part of the bloodbath. Don't think your tribute has escaped just yet... Please leave a review.**


	29. Bloodbath: How Will I Win?

**A/N: Okay, so this is the second part of the bloodbath. More deaths, sorry for the creators of the characters who die.**

* * *

**Kai Brookshore's POV (4):**

In a matter of minutes that thief, Nicky, from district 1 has took down two of my team-mates. Not that I care. What can I say about Fleur and Luke? Fleur didn't do well enough in training and Luke was a mummy's boy. Maybe losing them was for the best. On the other hand I am quite happy with who I've got left, and I think it's about time I began to be a part of this battle. I pick up the spear I picked up earlier from the bloodbath and walk, almost casually, into the battle.

"Kai Brookshore, huh?" I hear a girl's voice say and my head turns towards Joanie Greenwood as she pushes Alyssa to the floor and strides over to me. Faster than I expected the girl pounces on top of me clawing away at my face with some type of device which is attached to her hand. Even faster though, I shove her off and she lands with a thud on the floor.

"Bitch, you think you can beat me," I say slowly walking over to her as she stands up. I grip onto the spear tighter and tighter before driving it where her head is but she quickly ducks and it just sticks into the unnecessary bun in her hair. A little squeal releases itself from her lips and she quickly purses them shut before thriving unnaturally at her hair.

"Let me go!" she screams.

"You do realize this is the Hunger Games?" I say laughing slightly but she doesn't respond and all I hear is the battles going on around me. "Well then, I guess is the end for you, Joanie," I sigh jokingly before lifting her and the spear up higher and swinging it other my head. My muscles sigh in relief as the heavy weight is flung out of my arms and I hear a distant crack. I don't bother to turn around and only assume that the little bitch is dead.

"Kai," I hear Alyssa's voice say quietly and see her on all fours near the wall. "There's no-one there for me to fight."

"Then make yourself useful, take this," I say pausing to throw a little bag that was in the Cornucopia at her, "and collect as much stuff as you can," and with that the girl scrambles off picking up glass ornaments and slying past the battle that's on going. Maybe she's sly but the girl is quite useless when it come to battle. I saw her fighting Joanie, she doesn't stand a chance.

"Who wants to fight me now?" I pronounce and most of the people fighting look at me. "Come on, anybody. Look at Joanie over there, look at her blood spilling on the floor. Don't you want to avenge her death. Kill me. Come on, I dare you."

Without warning a knife comes flying towards me and Riley Stevens steps out pushing Vika aside who grunts unsatisfactorily.

"I'll fight you."

"A worthy opponent I assume," I say bowing but flicking a knife at him while doing so. He deflects it with his axe before walking closer and getting into a running pace. In a few seconds he drives the axe towards my bent forward neck but in a quick roll he drives it against the marble floor sending an eerie echo throughout the building. It seems that is the cue to carry on fighting as I see Nicky lunge towards Cavail and Vika begin to head towards Ruby.

I push the boy quickly onto the floor but he rebounds back up and hits me across the face with a strong fist. I regain composure quick enough and kick him in the side of the ribs before slashing his bare arm with a knife. He grits his teeth and aims to punch me in the face again but only manages to hit my thigh. I take my opportunity and quickly slam him onto the floor, placing my body on top of him he becomes defenceless and he just sits there while I repeatedly trace the knife round his stupid face.

"Why so quiet, Riley?" I tease.

"Piss off," he says trying to move his face away but I only jerk it back. In a quick movement I dig the knife into the soft skin of his cheek and make a short slash until the knife hits his ear.

"Sorry," I say driving it back to it's original position as he tries to hide the tears. What happens next shocks me to say the least. Because in one swift movement I see a spear drive right into Riley's throat and to my utmost disgust, it isn't my spear.

"Have some mercy, you dick," I hear a voice say as the spear slashes me across the face. I only have time to crawl off Riley's lifeless body as the figure of Lars Staal, from district 3 runs off with the bloody spear in his hand. I think I've made myself a new enemy.

* * *

**Isabelle Rayner's POV (5):**

"We just need to find a room, I know I saw some when I came out the lift," I say beginning to walk down different corridors and avoiding going up flights of stairs. For all I know, there might be someone up there, waiting, waiting to kill me and Steen.

"I didn't see one," is all he says so the two of us continue walking, trying to keep quiet while peering round different corners looking for rooms.

"This is bigger than any hotel I've ever been in," Steen sighs.

"Since when have you been in a hotel?"

"I haven't."

"Then shut up, you twit."

"Hey, why so snappy?"

"Because we need to find a room," I say turning to face him, "we'll only end up getting ourselves killed if we just wander around the hallways the entire time, there's bound to be a tribute near us."

"I can kill them," he says encouragingly but being quite scared I can't help but snap back.

"With what? You haven't got a weapon."

"Yes I do."

"The bo staff isn't a weapon..."

"Then why did they put it in the Cornucopia especially for me?" he asks quite defensively.

"Because you practically begged them to after training," I say recalling the exact moment. "Face it, it's not going to help you in here."

"Yes it will, I can hit someone over the head with it," he says but instead of carrying on such a stupid conversation I begin to walk further down the corridor until I see it, a room. With the number one thousand eight hundred and seventy six on. Heaven only knows how many rooms are in this stupid hotel. We're only on the first floor!

"Should we go in it?" Steen asks quietly peering towards the crimson coloured door. I nod my head and begin to walk towards it, holding my hand out until I can clutch onto the door handle. "There won't be anyone in, will there?" he says just as I touch the handle.

I pause before answering. "No, why would there be. The bloodbath is still ongoing, no-one will have gotten this far yet," and to stop myself from worrying any longer I push open the door and step into the room.

Sunlight pours through a window to high up for either of us to see through and the only object in the room is a wardrobe.

"Stand on my shoulders," Steen says bending his legs down for me to climb on. He places the bo staff underneath his feet as I clamber myself onto my shoulders and in a drunkish walk he makes his way other to where the window is. I peer my eyes out of the window but only fall off Steen's shoulders because of the blinding light.

"What did you see?" he asks not even bothering to help me up.

"Light," I pause, "just light."

"Oh, okay. Do you want to find another room?" he asks.

"We haven't even looked inside the wardrobe yet" I say wandering over and quickly pulling it open. But once again there is nothing.

"Nothing?" he asks cockily.

"Let's go..." I say my face turning to the floor in shame.

"Oh, no-one is going anywhere," a voice says that quickly makes me look up. A shadow appears in the doorway but the person is yet to be discovered.

"Who's that?" I ask backing away towards the wardrobe.

"Come in," Steen says stupidly. The door suddenly slams shut and the figure appears in the door swinging a small sword around their head. I hold back a scream and run towards Steen who has now picked up his stupid bo staff and is holding it out in front of him.

"An amazing weapon you've got there," the person, who I can't see the face of because of a mask, says sarcastically.

"It's a great weapon, actually. It beats your sword anyday," Steen says really quite defensively.

"Are you being serious?" he retorts.

"Yeah, let's fight," I say angrily, pushing Steen forward. Instead of arguing about being in the fight Steen lunges straight forward swinging his bo staff at the stranger. The stranger ducks though and swings his foot out, missing by afar. Steen quickly jumps back in hitting the boy with the bo staff. The boy does nothing though and instead throws the sword towards Steen, Steen has surprisingly good dodging skills though and the sword ends up crashing into the blank wall.

"Okay, I think you need to calm down and leave," Steen says pointing his bo staff towards the door.

"No, I'm going to fight you," the boy says angrily.

"I'm giving you the opportunity to save your life, now go!" Steen yells.

"I'm not a coward," is all the boy says before running out of the room. I'm about to say something along the lines of 'you should have killed him', when I here a scream and my feet are soon making their way out of the room.

My eyes look down the narrow corridor as I see Harabel Lucsley sprinting down a belt of knives wrapped around her waist. One knife embedded in the skull of the boy just fighting Steen.

"Do you want to see who it is?" Steen says.

I don't bother answering his question but only walk over and kneel down next to the boy. No breaths come out of his mouth, just silence. I pull the mask off his bloodied face gently and the boy from district 10, Harence, looks back at me, open eyed but dead all the same. To think, I was about to tell Steen off for not killing him. How am I going to survive in this game?

* * *

**Collin Etheren's POV (8):**

Some might just run down this corridor. Maybe. And put there foot right where that electronic trap is. Maybe. I lean forward slightly to peep around the corner at the ongoing action of the bloodbath. By now most tributes have ran down different corridors or went up staircases but I can see the career packs still fighting. Ever since that boy from three came in and killed Riley things have been a bit quieter. The girl from two still left, Vika, has resorted to finding some more things in the Cornucopia after her opposition Ruby ran away up a flight of stairs leaving just the boy from 1 left, Nicky. He's done well to fend off the ongoing attacks from Cavail and Kai but I guess it might only be a matter of time before he dies, also.

I continue to switch my vision between the fight and my trap. For the next ten minutes or so nothing seems to happen and I begin to get cramp in my legs. I slowly stand up hoping no-one hears my knees cracking and I begin to edge myself around the corner. I lift the small knife I managed to collect up to my chest and roll along the floor behind a plant. If my trap doesn't manage to get anybody I can always have a go at throwing my knife.

Suddenly the two little girls from nine begin to run past but something stops me throwing my knife. My heart. I can't kill them, they're so young. One is only seven. I look about for the strange boy from district four to be with them and find him standing on the other side of the room waiting.

I hear a sudden scream from the Cornucopia and any attention I had on Chris is diverted to the scene where Cavail is lying on the floor clutching a bloody ankle. Kai's attention is also diverted from Nicky who sprints off while he still has the chance.

"Coward," Kai screams after realizing Nicky has dashed off somewhere. Unfortunately that somewhere isn't anywhere near my trap so instead I just carrying on watching the careers, Alyssa, Vika, Cavail and Kai, who begin to gather all of there supplies into eight backpacks (two for each of them). They trek away up some stairs and for the first time since the games began, all is quiet. I roll over on the marble floor once again and begin to crawl towards the uninhabited Cornucopia. I pick up a dropped knife, some iodine, rope and a sheet of plastic before making my way towards the stairs.

"Help me!" I suddenly hear someone scream and instead of noticing they were pleeing for help I grip onto my knife harder and run towards the voice.

"Please, anyone," the voice screams, a boy's voice. I begin to sprint towards the voice and realize they must be stuck in my trap. I run round the corner and see the wimpy boy from district 6 his foot right in my trap. My eyes shoot to the lever that is heading up to ten, as soon as it hits twelve a bolt of electricity will shoot through him. He turns towards me and his eyes plead for me to let him out.

"Please," he says holding out his hand.

"I couldn't find anyone, Apollo," I suddenly hear a little girl's voice and the tiny girl from district 12 who's brother also is in these games, but was killed earlier, runs round a corner. Her eyes suddenly lift up to me and something I can only describe as fright appears across her face.

Apollo looks to me and smiles a little.

"Sae, you go with this nice boy here, I'll be okay," he says as the lever lifts up to eleven. Sae smiles a little at me and something inside of me makes me smile back. What is with me? I'm never going to be able to win this, I've already let two little ones live and now I can tell this will be a third.

"Come on," I croak, holding out my hand.

"Is Apollo going to die? Like Merriet did," she croaks following me round the corner after taking one last look at sweet Apollo.

"I don't know," I manage to whisper as I hear a piercing scream and the cannons begin. The bloodbath is over.

_Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom._

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so that is the bloodbath officially over. I hope youo liked the choice of POV's ect. And there is now only twenty four tributes left in the games. Okay and now a little on the deaths.**

**Joanie: She kind of slipped away after the first chapter which was her reaping and I just felt I could do more with other characters that are still alive.**

**Riley: Same for him really and I wanted to eliminate some district 1 tributes also to show ruthless Kai, but it was Lars that killed him.**

**Harence: Well he was one of two characters that the creator said I could kill in the bloodbath and since as a writer I didn't really connect with him, he was killed by awesome Harabel.**

**Apollo: The last death of the bloodbath. He wasn't good enough to be honest. But I wanted him to have a tiny alliance with Sae who's brother died before him dieing.**

**Okay, so information on standings, alliances etc. is on my profile. And please leave a review for me.**


	30. Struggles and Doubts

**Theodore McKee's POV (10):**

"Nine dead," Aurelie whispers. That leaves twenty four. I wonder who's left. Thankfully me, Katri and Aurelie all got out of the bloodbath untouched and with some supplies. I managed to get a backpack which had a bit of rope some bread and a massive coil of wire. Katri found a pen knife and a normal sized knife and Aurelie got a pack of nuts and a different pack of pins. I don't have a clue what we're going to do with the pins but the nuts have became quite useful and fill you up very easily.

"We should go back down to the bottom floor," Katri says pointing down to the hatch below us. We really found a stroke of luck getting in the place we are in now. Whilst running from the bloodbath Katri ran straight into a long rope hanging from the ceiling and took no time in climbing it up into this sort of attic, only we're no where near on the top floor.

"Why would we do that?" Aurelie asks popping a nut into her mouth.

"Because the bloodbath is over. That means everyone will have cleared out and there might still be some stuff we can get down there," Katri replies.

"But what if the career tributes are still down there," I say worried at the prospect of going down just to get slaughtered.

"Don't worry about them," Katri says smiling at me. "Come on, let's go, we'll be fine," she adds pulling the hatch over and beginning to climb down the rope. I look at Aurelie and after a sigh she nods her head and we begin to slide down the rope behind Katri. I walk in between the two of them trying to make as little noise as possible. We walk down zigzag carpet floors until we reach the familiar place we started. My eyes adjust to the sight in front of me. No longer is there any dead bodies but only splattered blood coating the floor in random places. To our disappointment the Cornucopia is completely empty and silence reigns over the place.

Silence apart from a clanking sound every twenty seconds or so.

My eyes search for the whereabouts of this sound and after a few minutes I see one of the elevators repeatingly trying to close but someone has jammed a plantpot in the door so it can't. I take a look at my allies who are fruitlessly looking for supplies and wander over to the plant pot elevator. The plant pot proves not to be heavy as I move it aside and stand midway into the elevator so that my foot stops it from closing.

"Katri, Aurelie," I say in the loudest whisper I dare and the two girls quickly turn to me holding their fingers on their lips. Their eyes lighten up when they see what I am doing and they begin to wander over. I relax my foot from the elevator door as soon as they get close enough. Katri walks in and runs her fingers over all the different buttons while Aurelie stands warily at the door.

"I'd be careful in there," Aurelie says folding her arms across her chest.

"What's going to happen? The floor will fall through? The elevator will turn out to be a massive mutation and gobble us whole? Come on Aurelie, live a little," Katri says laughing a little.

"Just don't press any buttons," Aurelie says sternly and I try a cheeky smile at her. She shows a sarcastic smile back and I recoil further into the lift.

"Are you not going to come inside, atleast?"

"No."

"Aurelie, just come in," I plead. "As long as that door is open there's always going to be a way out."

"Not if a tribute is on the other side threatening us with a sword."

"Well, then we'll just use the close doors button," Katri says running her long nails over the button.

"Oh, just come in," I say in my cheeky manner and she wanders in a little keeping her foot on the door.

"What do you think the red button does?" Katri marvels.

"Don't press it!"

"I wasn't going to," she replies, "but it would be interesting to see what it is for," she adds on clearly trying to annoy Aurelie a little. She runs her finger over the red button teasingly and Aurelie stalks over to her leaving me to keep the door open.

"Stop messing around, now why are we still in here?" Aurelie says properly taking in the open space for the first time.

"Because..." Katri says loudly then quickly clicks a button. She's about to speak again but Aurelie begins to scream at her.

"What did you do that for! You stupid idiot! Theo let's go," she shouts and we begin to walk out when the doors slam shut causing me to pull my foot back. "Katri!"

"Katri, let us out," I say childishly.

"I'm just doing what's best for you's," she says with a small smirk on her face and the elevator begins to grumble. The same grumble we heard just before we entered the arena. The same fear creeps inside of me and I clutch onto Aurelie's hand, almost hoping for protection.

"Where are we going?" Aurelie asks as a dark shadow is cast over the elevator and then filled back with light again.

"Welcome to floor thirty," a robotic voice answers her question and the elevator door slides open to reveal the floor. It's impossible. This is a hotel, yet this floor it's a dome. It's a crystal dome. It's beautiful. I run out the elevator quickly and touch the glass walls just a bit to tinted to see outside. The light reflects this way and that so not to hurt our eyes.

"May I be of your service," I suddenly hear a voice say and I whip around. A man stands in front of me. Only it's not a man because it's eyes are glass and it creaks every now and again. It stares at me willingly to answer it's question.

"Katri, Aurelie," I call back to the elevator where I can see the two of them marvelling at the walls.

"Excuse me young man, I said, may I be of your service," it repeats turning it's head to one side. My heart begins to beat faster and faster.

"No," I gulp, "No, I'm fine thank you." I say bravely and turn my back on the robot walking further away.

"No?" I hear it screech and quickly turn back around.

"Aurelie, Katri," I scream this time. The man drops the plate he was carrying and a long knife appears out of his sleeve. It swings just once before I see Katri's knife appear through it's head and her foot kicks it to the floor.

"I'm sorry," I gasp.

"No it's okay. Just stay by our side. They'll be plenty more from where they came from."

* * *

**Chris Octavian's POV (4):**

"Can we stop now, I'm getting tired," Harley says slumping down against the wall.

"Come on Harley, you really need to start acting your age. This game... we have to win it, or atleast you have to win it, and it's my job to help you through this," I say encouragingly picking her up onto her feet but once again as I touch her she furrows her eyebrows a little and flinches.

"But, we've been walking for ages, no-one will be so far up," she says falling back down.

"It doesn't matter how far up they are, we just need to get away from them. They'll be less chance of you coming to any harm," I say and look to Luna for reassurance but she is staring at the wall in a daydream.

"Well, I'm sleepy," she says childishly folding her arms and pouting her lips.

"Well, I'm just trying to help!"

"Right now, you're not being any help to me."

"What is with your attitude?" I suddenly almost shout at her, "you never used to be like this. Suddenly your put in the games and you start acting so... childish."

"I am a child," she says defensively rising onto her feet.

"You're fifteen."

"No," is all she replies, just no. What is up with her? She has been acting so differently and I don't understand. It's almost as if she isn't even the same person she used to be, and what is with the attachment to this weird daydreamer from district 9? Maybe it has something to do with Harley replacing that district 9 girl. Come to think of it, who was the district 9 girl that died under suspicious circumstances and had to be replaced by my Harley. She was small and young and childish, and she had an older brother. Yes, I can remember her from the reaping. She... I want to continue explaining this girl but my mind stops as I look towards Harley who is walking over to Luna and jumping onto her back like she is a big sister. But she isn't. I'm her big brother, why doesn't she jump on my back? Even when I touch her she doesn't like it.

"Harley," I suddenly say but she doesn't even turn around. "Harley," I repeat louder this time.

"What?" she says falling off Luna's back and looking at me intently.

"You love me, right?" I ask but once again I see it. Her eyebrows, they furrow ever so slightly. She flinches that tiny little bit. It reminds me of the time when I came back from my superstition removal. She wouldn't even touch me, she seemed afraid.

"Yeah," she says after a wait.

"Okay, let's carry on up then," I say pointing to the spiralling staircase. Instead of arguing she follows much more obediently now and Luna begins to follow, also. I tread quietly off the glass steps trying to make as less noise as possible, the urge to sleep is difficult to cope with but in here I don't know what time it is. I just know that whenever we pass a window it's too high up to see out of.

"Have you ever been to a hotel Luna?" Harley suddenly asks her eagerly.

"No," she says in a thoughtful way, "I don't think there is any hotels in district 9."

"No, I don't think there is," Harley agrees and then quickly looks at me. How would she know if there is hotels in district 9? Instead of pursuing the case I continue to walk as if nothing happened and soon the two of them are chatting very quietly about the hotel. It's an okay hotel. Very modern, I think. I haven't really been elsewhere apart from the staircase and the lobby where the Cornucopia is. Maybe, it's about time to explore.

"Okay, let's go onto this floor," I say seeing the number twenty eight and walking towards the door. The black door stands high and mighty but with a simple push it flings open and hits disturbingly against the wall inside. I take one step in and hold my hand out for Harley to grab, which she does so.

As I step in the light turns on without using a switch and what I see is truly magnificent. A banquet. Food of all soughts, better than what is in the Capitol. I walk further and further forward until my hand is resting above the berry bowl.

"Don't be so stupid," Luna suddenly shrieks slapping my hand. "It will be poisonous!"

"No it won't," I lie but I know it will be and if it wasn't for Luna I would be dead right now. "I can't believe I almost feel for that," I sigh.

"It doesn't matter, I'll search through all the food tomorrow when I have enough energy. I know what's poisonous and what's not from training. For now let's just get out the sleeping bags and head to sleep," she says encouragingly.

"Do you want to sleep with me, Harley?" I ask nicely.

"I'm okay."

* * *

**Lynette Caraway's POV (8):**

Accuracy. It's all about accuracy. Just one shot and it can go straight through that boy's neck. I just need to remember that his feelings don't count in this game. He's just one of the cattle, waiting to be slaughtered and if I'm the one who must do that, then so be it.

I pull the arrow further back into the string and release quickly. A soft whistle rings out as the arrow darts across the room and edges slightly to the right of the boy's neck. He turns round quickly but as he didn't see the arrow and only heard a noise he just carries on nibbling away at his bread. Maybe that bread will be mine if I can just kill him. I only have bloody two arrows left as well. With my skills with the weapon the chances are I won't hit him and unfortunately I will have to turn to fighting him with this knife I have. There's no other choice if I want to have food and going to bed on an empty stomach isn't good in my case. It will only prove in an even worse restless night and maybe even the occasional sleep walking or talking.

On that thought I string back the arrow and send it flying towards the boy again. This time the whistle is much quieter and it skids off the carpet silently before reaching him. I grit my teeth and stare at the stupid boy, why won't he just let me kill him; it would be much easier. Well maybe not for him because he would be dead. Maybe I should try and get his attention. If he comes closer to me he will be an easier target. I stand up from the uncomfortable crouching position I was in and peer slightly more around the corner.

I quickly bubble my hands around my lips and do the best impression of a phone ringing as I can. I've heard it enough times at school and I've already seen quite a few in this stupid hotel so maybe, just maybe, he'll fall for it. I stop after a short space of time and without making a sound get the bow and arrow into a shooting position once again.

I just have to wait until he comes round the corner. Then I just have to shoot the arrow and wait for the cannon to boom. Then my stomach will be settled, for today anyway.

His footsteps begin to come apparent in my ears, soft footsteps, wary footsteps, scared footsteps? It's hard to tell with this boy. I can't remember much of him in training, he was quiet. I can't even remember his name or what district he comes from.

Without a doubt the footsteps stop and I feel like my heart is beating so fast he will be able to hear it. I take one small step from where I am standing and wait for the opportunity to shoot. I wait for what feels like a few minutes before his shadow appears on the other side of the wall. My heart beats faster at the prospect of what is to come and I pull the string back even further.

Then it all happens so quickly. His figure appears around the corner and as I go to release the bow the boy grabs hold of it, snapping it clean in half. In one push he's got me on the ground and a scream just manages to come out of my mouth.

"No," I stifle out punching at his stomach while trying to retrieve the knife from my back pocket, but it seems pretty impossible.

"Shut up," he shouts back at me grabbing my left arm and crashing it against the floor. It goes numb almost instantly and a flash of yellow appears in my eyes. I scream a little in defiance and knee the boy wherever I can but once again to no avail.

"Leave me alone," I shout slapping him across the face with my other hand. He reacts slowly and I manage to push him off before running around the corner. I can't get killed. I can't. I won't. I grip onto the knife and storm towards his stuff. I swing the backpack up into my arms and turn to face him.

"Give me it back," he shouts coming around the corner and seeing what I've done.

"No, why should I? This is the Hunger Games, seriously people really need to start realizing that."

"Still," he says clearly annoyed by what I've done. "We could have been allies if you had just asked nicely for some supplies."

"What do I want with allies? I can defend for myself. You can see I've just tricked you."

"Yeah, but as a team we'll be great."

"And what would you bring to the alliance?" I ask eyeing the boy up and down.

"I'm a prankster," he says actually smirking.

"Oh, amazing," I say sarcastically.

"No, seriously. Just give me a chance," he says, "there won't be on funny business with me as your ally."

"Fine," I say kind of agreeing and reluctantly shoving the backpack into the middle of the two of us. An ally might be good for me. Two people can do a job better than one anyway and if this guy is as honest as he sounds I don't think I'm going to be getting stabbed in the back.

"We've got a busy day tomorrow then," he says smiling. "Let's get some sleep."

"You never told me who you are," I say.

"Oh, I'm Cole, from district 9."

* * *

**A/N: So that is the end of day 1 in the arena and I think I managed to include everyone in it in atleast a small way. The start of day 2 next chapter. **

**So we've got Theo encountering the first mutation type robot. Chris doubting Ange and Lynette making an alliance with Cole. Give me a review please and tell me what you think!**


	31. I Can See You

**A/N: Okay this is day two, part 1. This chapter only has two POV's in because it is kind of setting up for the next chapter and it consists of another twist.**

* * *

**Harabel Lucsley's POV (4):**

"Back to bed," that pathetic robot squeaks at me as it walks through the door holding a night cap. I use the wardrobe to pull my self up and face the illogical contraption. What a waste of money, time and space. I'm surprised it hasn't gone mad like the rest yet. If it does it will only end up in what I am calling the scrap pile (the pile in the corner of the room with all the robot parts.)

"Excuse me, it is only six," the robot says tilting it's head to one side.

"Sleep is illogical," I retort.

"Illogical?" it screeches, "Sleep is a condition of body and mind such as that which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended," it retorts angrily dropping the night cap and unsheathing a sword from it's belt.

"Sleep is illogical," I repeat,"What is the logic in wasting such time lying down with your eyes closed when there could be a much simpler solution such as an injection. Another thing, you are really no match for me you irrational creature," I say before spinning and throwing my knife towards it's heart. A shield blocks it's path though and the robot man does a flip towards me swinging it's sword, but being the logical being I am I duck and the sword crashes into the wall sending a large crack up to the ceiling. Debris falls down dramatically and coats me in white dust. The robot lets go of the sword before I have my chance to strike and grips onto my right wrist tightly. It's metal mouth curls slightly and I think it is stupid enough to believe it has the upper hand.

"Sleep is important!"

"Irrelevant."

In one swift movement I draw out my longer knife and chop it's head off before slashing it across it's torso for good measure.

A couple of minutes later the thing is blended in well with the scrap pile and I'm walking out of the room into the corridor. My eyes scan down the long corridors for any movement but just like yesterday, nothing. That's the problem with this place. It is so illogical. It just has too much capacity, too many places for the pathetic tributes to hide. Atleast I have managed to make a kill in that wimpy kid from district 10 and with luck I might be able to make another kill today. Maybe I will be able to find that alliance between the district 5 tributes, why they made an alliance I will never know. It shows no intelligence whatsoever, why would you make an interpersonal relationship with someone?

"Hello visitors, today is day two of your stay at our hotel. Make sure to visit different floors and you may encounter different activities to enjoy. For our more peckish visitors feel free to visit the banquet room or the canteen but for our more active visitors we recommend floors seven and nine. As always we hope you have a nice stay at the hotel, enjoy." I have no time to even think about what the speakers announced before I hear yet another annoying voice.

"Maybe, I could accompany you to floor seven or nine, Mrs. Lucsley?" My head jerks towards the voice. A much taller robot stands in my way. Do they honestly think height is going to make much of a difference when it comes to facing me? That creature doesn't stand a chance. Of course, it is all in due time. The robot is yet to enter it's mad state.

"I am quite okay with my whereabouts at the minute," I retort before turning my back on the robot and making my way down the corridor.

"Well maybe I could take you to the canteen."

"I'm not hungry."

"Maybe you are not hungry for food but hungry for a kill," it says evilly. I pause in my tracks and turn around to face the robot which has followed me all the way down the corridor.

"Well, this is a game of killing. Who would this opponent be?" I say trying to sound as logical as possible.

"There is a range of possibilities, how far would you like to walk?"

"Irrelevant. Just tell me where to go."

"But I must accompany you," it says twitching once again.

"Unnecessary," I reply drawing my knife and walking closer to the robot. Without warning I draw the knife through the robot's skull and it drops to the floor with a large bang. I take no time in using the knife to slice of it's head. If my assumptions are correct these mutations know exactly where to find each and every tribute so they can attack them. As they are not human beings and are completely illogical, they must be machine. Meaning there must be a device. Ah, there it is.

I rummage my hand through the different cells in it's brain until my hand clutches the rectangular device. Making sure not to damage it I drag my hand out and look at the device which is flashing blue. I tap at the screen a few times and it lights up quickly. A 3D version of the arena pops up onto my screen. Illogically it doesn't say what is on each floor but I can see twenty four symbols popping about the place. I guess I have just found a very logical way of finding my prey.

* * *

**Ruby Dazzle's POV (1):**

This is shit! Utter shit! What happened to the awesome district 1 career alliance that was going to stay till the end? Now there's just me and Nicky, and I'm not even allied with him. And even worse, I feel guilty. Guilty! For killing district 11. I know that's what I have to do but I can't help but think I have done it in the complete wrong way, I probably looked like a savage. It wasn't me out there yesterday, it can't of been, I was too horrible. I only volunteered to show that I could do it, maybe I was just trying to prove I'm not a push-over. Maybe, I should keep that angle. The bitch from district 1.

I wonder what district 1 thinks of me right now, they'll probably be proud that someone from there district is doing so well. And they'll probably be ashamed of how rubbish Riley and Joanie were, but me and Nicky done them proud. I have already killed three people and Nicky has killed two. Surely in the statistics district 1 will be doing the best. Maybe me and Nicky should try and break the record for most kills for a district. When I was in the Capitol I read a book about that. District 7 somehow hold the record when they killed eighteen of the other tributes. So me and Nicky only need to kill fourteen more...

Whilst going over who is left in the games I begin to hear a small buzzing sound and I stop trailing my fingers across the walls. I look down the corridor and see four very random rooms all lined up next to each other. That's quite strange seeing as I am yet to come across any rooms on this corridor.

"Hello?" I say quite quietly but my voice echoes across the room and gets louder and louder until you can basically hear me saying hello. Maybe that's why the buzzing sound is so loud, maybe the room is projecting the noise. It gets louder and louder as I get closer to the rooms and I quickly press my ear against the first door.

Only I don't press my ear against the door as I fall straight through it into the room and the door which appears to be holographic begins to flicker slightly. The room is different. It looks old and the smell of coffee fills my nose. Unlike the rooms I have encountered on floor two this room has a window, with an old fashioned curtain. I walk over gently and pull the curtain open quickly. Sunlight fills the room and I can hardly see outside because of it. I try to block the light with my hands but with no avail.

Instead of bothering with the window problem any longer my attention turns back to the buzzing sound that I now realize is coming from the corner of the room where an old television is. Fairly confident no-one can hear it I turn it on and an old Capitol lady appears on the screen.

"Hello tribute, I am the manager of the Hotel," she croaks, "You have been lucky enough to enter this room. It is very special... Here you can see what is happening elsewhere in the Hotel. But now you have entered this room you have begun a challenge. Failing to succeed this challenge will result in your death," she says not smiling like over sadistic Capitol people. "Once I have finished speaking video footage of an alliance will pop up on the screen. Your challenge is to kill one member of the alliance and report back here with a trophy of sorts. Something that is part of them. There token, a finger, a toe, anything will do. One of our hotel supervisors will collect the object and you will be set another challenge. Good luck tribute," she says finally smiling and the TV cuts off. For a second my heart stops while I wait for the alliance I will be going after to appear on the screen. I wait and wait until a coloured picture slowly appears and I see Cavail and Kai talking to each other. In the background Alyssa is sitting on a box of supplies and Vika is leaning against a wall. The wall holds the most significant piece of information though, the number four.

They're on floor four.

I begin to walk away when I hear the old woman's voice again.

"Tribute, you must kill either Cavail, Kai, Vika or Alyssa. There is no restricted time on completing this challenge but I would recommend to do it as quickly as possible. Remember this room is on floor two and this is room eight hundred and seventy six. Don't fail me tribute. May your challenge begin."

For some reason I dart out of the room and sprint down the corridor as fast as I can. My heart races fast and all I can think of is my death if I do not complete this challenge. But then when I do complete it I'm just going to have to another challenge. Before now I have not realised how much I am under the gamemakers control. One false move and I'm dead.

Who should I go after? Not Kai, that's too risky. Not Cavail, he's sharp, quick. Either Vika or Alyssa, I could kill them much easier.

"Tribute," I suddenly hear the old woman's voice again and I stop in my tracks. A holographic image of her appears in front of me and suddenly a mace materialises.

"Thanks," I say grabbing onto the mace and sprinting straight through the hologram.

I reach the stairs pretty quickly and begin to run up them as fast as I can. This is my challenge. I must complete it then I must do it again and again and again.

Maybe it won't be too hard to beat that record.

* * *

**A/N: A relatively fast update! Well thank you all for the reviews I've been getting and I hope you continue to review. So both of these tributes know where some of the fellow tributes are and next chapter Ruby will try to carry out her mission. **

**Thanks you for reading and please leave a review.**


	32. Cowardly Fire

**A/N: This is also a short chapter with only two POV's but I wanted to leave it off where I did...**

* * *

**Cavail Mirth's POV (2):**

"Do you wanna go reduce the numbers then?" I ask casually standing up and picking up my knife. I twirl it in my fingers slowly awaiting an answer but I don't get one. I look around at the three of them but they all seem pretty motionless. Kai is resting on the hilt of his sword and his eyes are slowly flickering shut.

"You can't be that tired!" I yell kicking away his sword. His chin falls down and he saves it just before it hits his knee.

"I can't be that tired?" he questions angrily. "I was the one who stayed up all night on watch," he adds on beginning to itch his back before picking up the sword I kicked.

"How about you two?" I shout again turning towards the two girls.

"I said yeah before," Vika says leaning against the wall.

"I'll stay here on watch," Alyssa speaks up not moving from her sitting position.

"'Kay whatever, come on Vika let's go, Kai, you coming?" I say seriously getting bored of the laid back attitude of this group. I've came into this arena to have some fun ripping apart tributes but these guys are seriously ruining it.

"Yeah," he says standing up and rubbing his hands all the way down his face. I nod my head curtly at Alyssa before heading round the corner and towards the stairs that lead up to floor five. I tred slowly behind Vika who leads the way and try and listen for suspicious noises but their is nothing. This arena is really too big, how are we meant to find each other and kill. I haven't even killed yet. How disgraceful is that? I had so many chances at the bloodbath but none arose where I would completely shine. Well, I guess the occasion for me to kill will arise soon enough.

It isn't long into our journey up the stairs when I hear a mad scream, a girl's scream. A wild smile appears on my face and I realize that the scream has come from back down the stairs. I presume some pathetic tribute thought it would be a good idea to sneak up on our supplies whilst we were out, luckily Alyssa is there though.

I quickly sprint down the stairs and push past Kai who is clearly still quite sleepy from last night, maybe I should cut him some slack. I hear Vika's quick steps as well and with about five steps left I dive to the floor and run around the corner with a wild grin still planted on my face.

"Vika," I suddenly hear the girl scream and my smile drops. Ruby holds a mace tightly in her hand and is madly swinging it towards Alyssa who is screaming, running around defenceless.

"Alyssa, fight her you idiot," I hear Vika scream angrily and then she runs past me holding her spear tightly. Quickly Vika releases her spear and it flies towards Ruby but the little bitch steps out of the way and throws a knife from her pocket my way.

"Look, who's came back to play," I taunt, "I almost forgot about the cowardly one that ran away from the bloodbath!"

"I'm just having a bit of fun," Ruby says turning towards Alyssa and swinging her mace madly. None of us have time to think before the mace releases from her hand and crashes into Alyssa's stomach. Vika's scream rings out in the room and I don't have time to look at the gory image in front of me as I see Ruby darting out of the room. Like the coward she is.

"Come back you little bitch!" I scream, sprinting out of the room and into the stairway where she is hurdling over railings and stairs.

"Fuck off!" she screams back, now defenceless apart from the small knife in her back pocket. On the other hand I have my nifty sword. I sprint down the stairs quicker at her words and it isn't long until I am almost in reaching distance of her. I begin to reach out my sword but she swings towards a doorway and I end up running straight into the wall. Without hesitation I make my way thought the doorway where the girl is running down the corridors.

"You can run but you can't hide," I voice echoes through the corridor and I continue running until she opens a door and darts in.

"Keep him out! Keep him out!" she screams. So she's got someone in there with her? Cool. More kills for me.

I slow down as I near the room and a small buzzing sound enters my eardrums before cutting out completely.

"Hey Rubes," I call placing my ear near the door.

No response. Silence.

"You coming out to have a good old fashioned fight instead of being the wimpy coward you are?" I ask and just as I do a cannon booms, I presume it is Alyssa's. Oh well.

"Did you hear that Ruby, you actually managed to kill someone that could have been a threat to you," I say clapping my hands. "Maybe if you come out here you'll have a chance of killing me as well..."

"Or am I going to have to come in and get you?"

Silence.

"Oh, come on" I say angrily pushing open the door. I enter with a wide grin spread across my face and the sword held high, wary of Ruby possibly being around the corner. But... she's not there. She's not in the room at all. Nothing is. It's completely empty and the walls are rock solid. This doesn't make sense at all.

She's escaped. Coward.

* * *

**Jesseca Mira's POV (3):**

"Lars!" I whisper as loud as I dare. "Look, we got a sponsor," I can't resist almost screeching it, "we got a sponsor!"

"Really?" he asks appearing around the corner staring at the silver parcel. "Wait, how did it even get in here?" he says staring at the roof.

"Who cares?" I say grabbing hold of it and prying it open roughly. My eyes search around in it and anger fills up inside of me. "What the fuck?" I say looking towards Lars angrily.

"What is it?" he says laughing.

"You know what it is," I shout wrapping my hands around the cigarettes and throwing them at him. He quickly falls to his knees and begins to scoop them up but he stops dropping them. I don't bother looking at him anymore as I hear his steady footsteps coming towards me.

"Jess, what's the matter?" he asks in a voice I have only heard him use when he has been talking to his sister.

"Just you don't need cigarettes, you haven't seemed too bothered without them. We could have used those sponsors for more important things, like food, water, a sleeping bag, a weapon, anything but those things," I sulk dropping the lighter I was hiding in my hands on the floor.

"Sorry Jess, it's just... it's been killing me without them. I've been getting so stressed, I've just been trying to hide it from you. If it makes you feel any better I won't use them," he says once again in that nice, gentle voice.

"It doesn't matter, you can have them if you want. What's the point of wasting them, smoking is something you like and you only live once..."

"Yeah," he says picking up the lighter and walking off round the corner.

"Could we remind guests at the hotel that their is a strict non-smoking rule," I suddenly hear the voice say.

"Fucking hell!" Lars screams. I stand up quickly and follow him round the corner where he has dropped all of his cigarettes and is holding onto his lighter menacingly.

"What are you doing?" I ask walking slowly towards him.

"Showing those bastards that they can't mess with me," he says, eyes not leaving the flame. I walk a few steps back and in one swift movement he pulls the lighter over the picture frame on the wall. It quickly sets alight and spreads quickly. Within a few minutes the whole picture is completely alight and the flames have spread up to ceiling. Smoke fills the room and I quickly grab Lars' arm. I lead him up the stairs, taking our supplies with us and I am just left with the sound of roaring flames and a few smoke alarms going off.

* * *

**A/N: So there was a death and Lars has began to set the hotel on fire. So Alyssa positioned in 24th. I really liked her at the reaping but she kind of faded and was quite a weak career.**

**Next chapter is the last part of day 2. Review please.**


	33. Fiery Hotel

**A/N: Final part of day 3.**

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**Guire Davids' POV (7):**

Fire. I should know, coming from district 7 where the occasional tree will catch fire every now and again. I've been scared of it since I was little. When I first was assigned to using one of those axes they gave to the little ones. I remember gleefully swinging it towards the tree when Joraly Elison, the district's troublemaker, set fire to one of the bushes. It all caught fire so quickly and I was only little I didn't get it. I didn't get why those around me were screaming at one another so I went forward towards the fire (I now wonder why no-one stopped me) and I touched it. I let the fire engulf my hand and it hurt, but I thought that was what it was meant to do, so I stayed there until I screamed and somebody saw me and grabbed me and the fire... it stayed in my eyes.

I'll always remember the fire. Right to this day where I can see the flames flickering around the corner and my mouth is just hanging open slightly. Maisie's voice is repeating jumbled up words over and over again but I am too much in a trance to listen. She suddenly pulls me and my state changes to the screams of different people. The screams become louder and I look up to the speaker where they are coming from. It's probably just a nasty gamemaker trick, this fire is probably a gamemaker trick.

"Guire, come on! Do you want to roast alive?" I hear one of the girl's voices suddenly shout and I turn around without hesitation and begin to jog up the stairs breathing heavily. We stop once we get to the next floor and sit on the top stair together.

"This is rubbish," Maisie says placing her head in her hands.

"Did any of you manage to salvage any supplies?" Christina asks hopefully.

"Apart from this electronic trap, no," I say pulling the little parcel out of my pocket and giving it a rattle to make sure it's still in there.

"We really need sponsors now then," Maisie says pulling out the inside of her pockets to make sure there is nothing in them.

"Who's going to sponsor us. Three tributes from six, seven and twelve? We don't stand a hope in hells chance," Christina quickly butts in clearly angered by the gamemakers stupid trick.

"Well as the numbers dwindle down, we'll get more popular," I say hopefully, smiling.

"And in the meantime?"

"We could steal or go to the canteen they were talking about earlier on," I say thinking through different strategies in my head.

"Oh and all the food is going to be fully edible at the ever so convenient canteen," Christina says sarcastically and just as she does the door below blows open and fire spews in catching onto the borders and quickly spreading up the staircase.

"Well it looks like we're not going to be able to get down to the canteen anyway," Maisie suddenly says standing up and rushing further up the stairs. Me and Christina quickly follow her and we continue running until it isn't just our footsteps that we can hear.

"Stop," I whisper but the other two seem to have noticed exactly what I have. We slow down but as do the other footsteps.

"Who is it?" Christina asks to which me and Maisie just shrug our shoulders and hold our fingers to our lips. Without further hesitation the three of us back up against the wall while the fire slowly spreads up the stairs, the heat slowly bristling the hair on my arms. Two sets of footsteps come closer and closer until they come to a steady stop.

I let out a small sigh and then get a sudden shock as a boy I can't make out lunges round the corner. My heart penetrating against my chest I throw myself to the floor and all I see is the boy grip onto Christina and throw her roughly down the stairs. The girl is quickly engulfed in the flames and I see the face of her attacker. Lars Staal. I feel someone else's hand on my shoulder and jump before grabbing onto Maisie and darting towards the set of doors just a few metres away. I take one last look at the district 3 tributes before shutting the door behind me

Once into the room we stay silent and hold our backs firmly against the metal door. Thankfully there is a lock and just as it clicks shut we here Christina's cannon.

"I guess it's just the two of us now then."

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**Sae Volnur's POV (12):**

The fire. It is all I can feel and hear and I just don't like it. Just when you feel you've escaped it creeps round the corner ready to roar in your face again. Not until now have I actually feared death in the arena, even at the bloodbath I just knew I'd be safe. I just didn't think it would be with Collin, I thought it would be with Merriet. My brother who is constantly creeping into my mind and as much as I try to escape the thoughts of his death it is hard. Tears are something I am holding back but not for much longer because he is becoming all I think. My parents must be devastated, they can't lose me as well, but the sad reality is that they will. There is no chance of me getting out. Collin is trying to help me but I am weak. Every twist and turn I only feel fear and the arena has turned me into a sniffling child who wants to be locked in a room, I don't ever want to come out of that room. There is plenty of rooms in these hotels, but none for me not when that blinding light is shining through the window and the door is creaking every now and again.

"Come on Sae," Collin's words interrupt my thoughts and I feel his steady hand grab my arm. How can he be so steady when the whole arena is setting alight, when death is likely. I nod my head at him and walk round the corner where a fire extinguisher is left empty on the floor and the walls are scorched black.

"There's someone been here," I whimper trying to tug Collin back around the corner but he is defiant and continues to walk. He's not scared of those in the arena with us and he's willing to fight. Not just for him but for me. He's like Merriet really.

"It's okay, they're not here anymore," he says and just as he does fire comes round the corner and we are quickly running down the corridor. I look behind me every now and again and this causes me to trip and I fall onto my knees. My skin quickly scrapes off and a terrible carpet burn causes my face to wince in hurt. And although it really doesn't hurt that much I let the tears roll, what's the point of pretending I'm not weak when I clearly am. The Capitol must know that and I must know that they will never sponsor me because I am from 12. It's funny how a number has decided my fate in this arena.

"Are you okay?" I hear Collin's voice but I can only see a blurred version of him through the tears.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say wiping my snotty nose.

"I just don't know what to do Sae," he says holding his head in his hands. "I just don't know where to go. There's just too many twists and turns and everything is just so confusing."

"I hate this place," I reply looking up at him and all he does is smile.

"You know what, I'm pretty sure fate has decided I won't get out of here alive but that won't stop me getting you out Sae. As much as I'm giving up on myself, I'm not giving up on you. You're like a little sister to me."

"And you're just like Merriet," I say hanging my head down and recalling brilliant, fantastic memories with my older brother.

"I'm glad to hear that," he says close to tears himself now. The conversation stops there and I spend the next few minutes staring at the fire ever so slowly coming towards us once again.

Is the fire just a way to create deaths. There has already been one. Maybe that is all they want, a few deaths and then they'll put out the fire. It's not like they can burn the arena down, it's only day two. Two days in this dreadful arena. As I ponder on my thoughts I find myself wiping mounting sweat off my forehead as I realize the fire is coming closer again. I begin to pick myself up but my knee that jolts that I fell on and I sit back down and just stare down the corridor at the fire. Collin strangely doesn't move from where he is either and as I continue to glare at the fire I suddenly begin to hear screams and although my knee hurts I begin to drag myself down the corridor. Collin picks me up and we slowly walk away while still staring at the fire.

Suddenly a hissing sound erupts into my ear drums and the fire is replaced my simply white smoke. Me and Collin quickly drag ourselves into the nearest room as the girl tribute from 8, Collin's district partner, and the boy tribute from 9 appear from the smoke carrying one of those fire extinguishers.

It's in that room we settle for the next half an hour and after no intruders we decide that it is a good place to stay for the night. The faces of the dead appear and Christina and Alyssa are the unfortunate ones. I pay no more attention to the matter though as I drift off into my second sleep in a hotel.

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**A/N So another tribute is down, twenty two of the left. The fire isn't completely gone yet, parts of it have just been extinguished. Okay so Christina - I really liked her and she was pretty cool I thought but she was just a bit minor compared to what the other two in her alliance have. Review please.**


	34. Unexpected

**A/N: Last chapter I said it was the end of day three that was a mistake, it was the end of day two. This is the first chapter of day three.**

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**Luna Rose's POV (9):**

The dream slowly fades away as my eyes flutter open to the sight of my allies. Ange has her little head gently resting on my chest while Chris is wandering around the room, looking quite tired. For a minute or so I let my eyes continue to drift in and out of sleepiness until Chris' constant footsteps get too much on my nerves and I am forced to rest Ange's head on the floor. I stand up and walk towards the door of the room we are in, over the whole course of day two we were constantly moving around after finding out that every single bit of food in the room we were in was poisonous. At the minute I don't even know what floor we are on.

"Luna," Chris suddenly says quietly. I turn around to see him standing suspiciously in the shadows.

"What?" I ask raising my eyebrows and taking a lone stop towards him.

"Isn't my little sister adorable," he says not moving at all. I feel like running over and telling him the truth about Ange but we need Chris. "I was just wondering how you got so close to her during training," he says quirking an eyebrow. "In fact," he adds on without letting me answer him, "I was just wondering why she is here at all. She wasn't reaped, and I can't remember hearing anything about the district 9 child dying." He suddenly raises his voice and I begin to take little steps away. "It just doesn't add up, does it Luna? Because you know what I think, I think you have tampered with my brain," he viciously points his finger at me. "I think when I went to the clinic that day you were there with her," he says darting his finger in the direction of Ange. "She's not even called Harley, is she? Harley isn't even in this arena. She's in the Capitol, and you two tricked me. You used me," he yells the last sentence extremely loud.

"Shut up," is all I reply.

"NO! You struck me when I was vulnerable Luna, what is that girl's name?"

"You're wrong, I didn't do anything to your brain," I reply completely ignoring his question.

"Yes you did," he says much more calmly now. "You and her, she's the district 9 child isn't she? You know what I don't know how my brain fell for such a trick. And do you know what? I'm going to get my revenge," he once again says calmly and he slowly pulls a knife out of his back pocket.

"Ange!" I scream but for some reason the little girl doesn't wake up. "Ange?" I repeat and this time she stirs slightly before opening her eyes.

"You!" he suddenly screams at the seven year old and before I can do anything he flings the knife cruelly at her. Her little eyes open wide with horror as the knife strikes her stomach. Blood is spurting out before I have the chance to even react and my eyes turn to Chris who is having the aftershock of what he did. He holds his hand slowly over his mouth and all that can be heard is Ange's whimpers. A seven year olds whimpers. Why is she even here?

"How could you?" I break the silence and then I'm running. Then my hands are in front of me. Then there around Chris' neck and he isn't doing anything to stop me because he looks truly sickened with himself. I can hear him trying to say something but I don't stop. I press my thumbs hard into his neck and slap him across the face. If he wasn't so upset he could fling me off easily, without having to try. I see one of my tears hit his face but I continue, knowing this is what I have to do.

He deserves it.

"I'm sorry," he whimpers.

"She's called Ange," I say punching him in the nose.

"I'm sorry Ange," he says but I don't let go.

"I'm sorry but you shouldn't have. I'm doing it for her. I'm doing it for Ange Parks," and with my last word I hear a cannon. I don't know who's it is but I let go of Chris and slump onto the floor next to him. My breaths are raspy and I begin to cry, but I hear her crying as well. I crawl over Chris' lifeless body and grip onto her hand which is covered in blood.

"I'm so sorry Ange," I croak.

"Don't be," she says and her eyes drift shut.

"I'll win it for you." I grip tighter and tighter until a small smile appears on her face and the second cannon of the day rings across the arena.

* * *

**Steen Klein's POV (5):**

"I could hit him over the head with my bo staff," I whisper into Isabelle's ear to which she suddenly jumps and looks at me sternly. She shakes her head once then turns her head back in the direction of Nicky, the district 1 boy who is currently roaming about in our territory. He is swinging a mace quite casually by his side and by the way he is looking about the place I am pretty sure that he knows that somebody is here. But what he doesn't know is that, that somebody is a fierce district 5 tribute who is heavily armed with a bo staff.

"Maybe we should try and escape," Isabelle offers and this time I shake my head.

"We've already done that when we encountered Ruby and Harabel, it's getting a bit repetitive. The gamemakers will get bored and set us on fire. I personally think we should just attack this moron," I say finally standing up and placing my bo staff firmly by my side.

"Just sit down," Isabelle suddenly says through gritted teeth, she quickly grabs hold of my jacket and yanks me to the floor. In shock I drop the bo staff and it slowly rolls around the corner. Without thinking I lunge round the corner and pick it up, not before Nicky Osgood sees me though. I hear Isabelle sigh annoyed behind me and I try to pretend she's not there, for her sake.

"I'm sorry but who the hell are you?" Nicky asks, looking at me like I am one of the mutation robots.

"I'm from district 5," I say confidently.

"Okay, what's your name?"

"Steen."

"Stupid name."

"So's Nicky."

"How do you know my name? Stalker."

"I'm not a stalker," I suddenly wail sounding quite hurt.

"Oh I don't give a fuck anyway. I'm not going to remember you after the games anyway, let's just fight," he says yawning mid-sentence and beginning to swing his mace about. I consider saying something else but that thought is extinguished when he begins to charge towards me with his mace. His mouth opens widely and I quickly roll to the side. I take a quick look at Isabelle who is just sitting there silently, I'm guessing she doesn't want to be noticed by this buffoon. He suddenly lunges again but I strike his mouth with the bo staff and he staggers backwards holding onto his bloodied lip.

"Ha!" I scream running further forward and striking him again while he's off guard. This time I hit him in the temple and he falls onto the floor, clutching onto his head. I walk towards him slowly, I can't rush this or I won't be able to take him out of the game. I hold the bo staff behind me ready to swing it straight at his head, ready for the final blow.

"What a shit weapon," he suddenly moans and I stop and it's that moment where he hacks his mace at my leg. My skin is torn off in an instant and I am left staring at the sad excuse for an ankle I have left. I restrain from tears though and bat him over the head with the bo staff. He shrinks back once again.

"Atleast I'm not the one who's dead!" I say pushing the bo staff into his ribs, causing a few crackling noises.

"I'm not d..." he begins to say but I stamp on his neck and he can't finish his sentence.

"Yes you are," I say quietly striking his temple once more with the bo staff causing the cannon to boom. I step back from the lifeless body in front of me and kneel down.

"It's not that much of a bad weapon then," I hear Isabelle's soft and soothing voice. "Don't feel bad about it Steen. He would have killed you if you hadn't have killed him."

"I don't feel bad. It didn't feel bad to it."

It felt good.

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**A/N: At the beginning of this chapter I didn't think there would be any deaths but there was three. Sorry about that id you liked the characters because I was shocked at who died aswell. Well I hope you enjoyed it and now:-**

**Ange: I really don't know why. She's only seven and I felt bad killing her but I needed that scene to be really dramatic and I wanted the whole outcome to be shocking. I think it was.**

**Chris: He figured it out... but it caused his death. Chris has been one of my favourite characters from the start as he has provided the mbest plots, I think but he went crazy in the end and killing a seven year old is low. So he let little Luna kill him.**

**Nicky: I liked him aswell. He was a little crazy and the thief bit of him was nice. But he provided less to the story than others did and he has also made Steen a little crazy.**

**Review please.**


	35. The Predators and The Prey

**Day Three Part Two**

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**Vika Tabor's POV (2):**

"Really? Well once I was in the woods and I carved the skin off a lizard. I've seen it a few times since, it's pure flesh," Cavail says sounding extremely proud of himself.

"Woah that's cool. Once when I was on the beach this kid was swimming but he was shit at it. So I went over and pushed him over, I showed him how to swim but he got extremely jealous of how awesome I was and began to hurl disgustingly bad insults at me," Kai stops and Cavail nods his head in approval, "So I told him he was the ugliest piece of shit I've ever seen. He began to cry so I hit him in the chest, after about five more minutes he was having a mental breakdown..."

"Well I once made a beetle have a mental breakdown," Cavail says, once again sounding extremely proud of himself.

"Hey Vika," Kai suddenly shouts at me to which I turn my head round slowly.

"What?" I refrain from saying it in an annoyed way even though I am.

"Do you have any cool stories to tell. You know, about like bullying little shits or killing things. Anything cool?" he says a wicked smile across his face.

"Yeah totally," I say a wicked smile appearing across my face. Now to conjure up the biggest lie I can think of, these two idiots will believe whatever I say anyway. For some reason they think I'm a clever little scheming career, while the only scheme I have is to stab these two in the back (literally) whenever I get the chance.

"Really? What is it?" Cavail asks. "It better be something good, I want to get into a killing mood."

"Well," I start. "When I was ten years old I was walking through the town square in district 2 with my parents and my brother. We were just checking out all the latest stuff, my Mother was looking at clothes, my Father was looking at jobs and my brother and I were looking inside the weapon shop. We were stood there in silence for quite a bit until we walked in and I slyly slipped the longest, serrated knife I could find behind my back. I just planned on stealing it at first but then when the shopkeeper went to serve someone else my brother turned to me and asked why I had stole it," I pause and look at Kai and Cavail's faces. The two of them look in awe and are just waiting for me to carry on my story.

"I told him as a joke that it was to stab him with but he didn't take it as a joke and he pushed me out of the shop and began to throttle me. He really hurt me so I dragged him into an alleyway and stabbed him once in the chest. I told my parents it was suicide."

"Wow," Kai says.

"That's actually inspired me to kill someone, let's go," Cavail says standing up and picking up the closest weapon to him, a sword. Kai nods his head and follows suit and I guess I should do the same.

"So who we killing?" Kai asks.

"Whoever we can find," Cavail adds.

"Okay, dibs on Harabel though," Kai adds pure hatred in his voice.

"Fine, but I've got Ruby," Cavail replies.

"Who do you want?" Kai asks turning to me.

"In this game we can't pick and choose. I'll kill when I have the opportunity," I say firmly. And the opportunity I am waiting for is killing these two.

* * *

**Katri Mellows' POV (7):**

"Aurelie I'm just going to the water fountain," I say quite casually. She waves her hand at me and turns back to her card game with Theo. I walk away with a smile on my face, this isn't what I thought the games would be like at all. Since we got here we have not been given the 'pleasure' of meeting anymore of the robots and we've been getting many sponsors. We found a lock for the door so no-one can even get into our floor. And through the whole of yesterday and today we have just been sat playing games, relaxing while the cannons have been going off. Three, today.

I actually find it quite funny how scared we were when we came up here, but it's just like a nice cabin. We could just wait up here until the others kill each other off, then we'll refuse to kill each other. It all sounds so simple when I say it in my head, but I know it won't be. We've disillusioned ourselves into thinking we're not going to come to any harm but as soon as the gamemakers get bored of us sitting up here they'll kill us off, or force us out.

I quickly fill up the bottle of water from the fountain in one of the cupboards and make my way to the machine which keeps on supplying us with food. It all seems a little too convenient up here but for now we're happy. After collecting a sandwich I walk back to the main room where Theo and Aurelie are sat.

"I won," Theo calls to me. I smile at him then sit down creating a triangle space between the three of us. I pass the bottle of water around and we sit there in silence until we hear the familiar sound of a parachute flying down towards us.

"What do you think it is this time?" Aurelie asks gripping onto it as soon as it is in reaching distance. I'm about to open my mouth to answer but she quickly tugs it open and pulls out three knives.

"Why?" Theo says. "Why have they given us these?" he touches one of the handles gently but pushes it away, furrowing his eyebrows.

"It might be a warning," I mutter, I'm not sure if either of them hear me.

"Maybe there just preparing us in case the moment arises," Aurelie says trying to be positive. "We're safe up here anyway. The door's locked."

"That doesn't mean it's going to stay locked," I mutter again. This time Aurelie hears me and sends me a glare but I don't think Theo did.

"It's going to be okay Theo. Think, we only got up here because of the lift, no other tributes have that access and who's going to bother walking all the way up here if they're not certain they'll be tributes up here. Most tributes will have forgotten about us, they'll be too busy going after their rivals in the arena," Aurelie says all this very quickly.

"Yeah I suppose so," Theo says attempting a smile.

"Anyway," I say clasping my hands together. "Let's forget about these knives," I say pushing them to one side and looking to the other two. "Let's just relax."

"How can we relax. Those knives are obviously a warning, we're going to need them soon. Aren't we? You both know that you're just trying to hide the truth from me because I'm little," Theo says looking to me and then to Aurelie.

"Look Theo, everything is going to be fine. Like I said there's a lock on that door. No-one can get in," Aurelia says calmly holding on to his hand.

"Yeah, well that door can't hold down a sword, can it?"

"Theo, you're thinking things through too much," I say trying to calm him down.

"I'm only thinking about possibilities," he says looking to the floor now and me and Aurelie know he's right. All that calmness and protection we have felt today and yesterday are gone now all because of these three knives.

"Theo, if anything bad happens we're going to protect you," Aurelie says.

No more words are said from there as all the three of us can think about is what is coming for us. My eyes lock tightly onto the door, the lock looks strong but what is a lock compared to a sword. I twiddle my thumbs slightly, waiting. I hear Theo muttering something. I hear the machine rattling. I hear Aurelie's calm breaths. Then I hear a click. The lights go out. Theo screams. Aurelie gasps. I can't make out the door in the darkness. All I can hear is my heart and the creaking sound of someone walking up the stairs...

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**A/N: Oooh... I've left it on a bit of a cliffhanger there. Yeah, so I suppose we haven't heard from Vika in a while so I decided to do a POV from her. And who do you think it is walking up the stairs?**

**Review please.**


	36. Decisions, Decisions

**Day Three Part Three**

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**Aurelie Lark's POV (10):**

I feel Theo's soft skin as he clutches onto my hand and as much as I want to reassure him everything will be fine, I can't. Because it's not going to be fine, whoever is walking up those stairs wants to kill us. I quickly drop to my knees and fumble my hands around the floor for the knives. After about ten seconds I feel one of the blades and quickly pick up all three. I hand one to a stricken Katri and give one to Theo.

"I'm not good with knives," he whimpers.

"Okay, it's not like they know you're here anyway, go hide in the closet," I quickly push him away and just as he enters the closet a large bang fills my eardrums. My heart begins to beat faster and I hold the knife out in front of me. I squint my eyes for a better view of the door but all I can see is the lock.

"Katri, who do you think it is?" I whisper edging my way over to her.

"Someone scary," she says in her normal tone and just as she does a large mace crashes down the door. I can't resist screaming and without thinking I run towards the door as fast as I can. Whoever it is, isn't getting in. I hold the door firmly in place but I don't think that I will be able to hold back some nutter with a mace. The mace crashes through the door again leaving a large hole and suddenly a hard darts through aswell. This time I scream even louder and back away from the door. The lights flicker on for one second revealing a shadowed figure before the blink off again leaving us in complete darkness. I try to find Katri again but I can't. Images of blood and gore fill my mind and I clutch onto the knife more.

Then the door slowly creaks open and I can't see a thing. I can't see where anyone is. I look for any darker shadows but nothing. I walk slowly. Where's Katri? Where's whoever the other person is? I dare not shout out as it could result in my death.

"Aurelie!" I suddenly hear Katri scream, a painful scream, I think she's been hurt. But once again I dare not open my mouth instead I run towards where I thought the noise came from. My footsteps are heavy now and the attacker must know where I am. I suddenly trip over and the lights flash on brightly. I look around trying to see Katri and the attacker, expecting the lights to go off any minute but instead they stay on, hurting my eyes. I see just white for a minute or two until I see Katri and her attacker, Ruby.

They stand mere metres away from me. Ruby holds the mace around Katri's neck, giving her a range of choices for how to kill her.

"Let her go," I plead, but why would she listen to me.

"Are you joking, this is the Hunger Games, ya know?" Ruby says looking at me as if I'm stupid.

"You don't have to kill her. That's not normal," I scream at her. I look straight into Katri's eyes and see something that I haven't seen in her, she's given up. "Katri," I say and her eyes turn towards me. She looks sad and I'm pretty sure that she thinks it's the end. Well, it's not.

I lunge forward and slash straight at Ruby's face. If Katri's going down then Ruby's going down with her. I manage to get a long gash across her cheek and in the shock Katri manages to escape from the mace, although she ends up getting cuts around her neck in the process. I grip onto her hand and drag her towards me.

"Where's Theo, anyway?" Ruby questions, picking up her mace.

"We're not in an alliance with Theo," I lie.

"Yes you are," she says firmly taking a few steps back as if getting ready for a run-up.

"How would you know?" Katri asks rubbing at her neck where Ruby has clearly hurt her.

"Because I saw a video of you's two hours ago with him," she says.

"How?" me and Katri both say simultaneously.

"Because someone showed me it, what does it matter?" she says setting back on her heels then running towards us. I try to slash at her with my knife when she begins to get close but it is pretty useless as her mace swings round and knocks my elbow, causing a searing pain and blood to be splattered all over the floor. I grit my teeth, not screaming for once.

While I'm off guard she lands another blow to my other arm and I fall to the ground. Within seconds the girl has pounced on top of me and has drawn out a long knife from her pocket. I see Katri coming to save me but Ruby warns her away soon enough.

"Help," I plead.

"You're not getting any help. You didn't seriously think you could win this, did you?" Ruby says placing the knife on my side, right where the scar is from when I was little.

"Well the Games are games, and I always win games."

"You're not winning this one," she says bringing the knife across my neck. In one clean swipe she slits it open and hoists herself off me. She's already running out of the door before Katri gets to me.

"Coward!" I hear Katri scream and then I feel her breath on me. "Aurelie, are you okay?"

"No," I whimper tears beginning to edge out of my eyes.

"Theo no, you don't want to see her like this," I hear Katri begin to say and I manage to open my eyes to see the cute little kid walking over slowly. They shut quickly though and I feel two different hands touching my cheeks.

"It's going to be okay Aurelie," Theo's voice says.

"Win it for me, both of you," I say and just as I do a bright light welcomes me. Memories of my friends and family flash before my eyes. My life is over, I was so young.

* * *

**Cole Phlox Lindgren's POV (9):**

BOOM!

"That's the fourth cannon today," Lynette says.

"Who do you think has died today?" I ask purely trying to make conversation, as walking down this endless corridor is really boring.

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if one of them was my district partner, Collin. Maybe one of the little kids died aswell. I'm not sure, it's hard to tell, who do you think?" she replies.

"I don't know, I kind of hope my district partners are still alive though, you know what I mean?" I ask.

"Yeah I guess. Me and Collin were kind of alright with each other. We got on well at the chariots, did you get on well with erm... Ange and Luna."

"Yeah, they were very protective though and then there was all that stuff with the district 4 boy thinking Ange was his sister, after that I didn't really want to get involved with them anymore," I respond.

"Oh my God, there's a room Cole," she suddenly begins to scream and I see it aswell at the end of the corridor. It's a dead end but atleast there's a room. She begins to run so I do aswell and soon all that can be heard is our eager footsteps pressing loudly against the floorboards. I look back every now and again to check no-one is following but as we haven't seen anyone all day I doubt that anyone is. As soon as we get there we open the door quickly and what is there shocks us. A slide. Like something in a child's playground. Only it's a massive slide and we can't see the bottom. Other than that there is a window/

"Should we go down?" I ask probably reflecting mine and her thoughts.

"It won't kill us," is all she answers me with.

"Okay, we'll go down then," I say gripping onto her shoulder and pushing her down the yellow slide with me. The wind blows back fiercely into my face and we soon are enveloped into darkness. The light from the top is sealed off and I let myself freely fall. The end is abrupt but we land on something soft atleast. After a few seconds the lights flash on automatically and weird objects are placed all around us. There is hoops, platforms, cones - all of different colours.

Suddenly we begin to rise up on a different platform and soon all the other platforms do aswell.

"It's an obstacle course," Lynette says eyes wide open.

"And what happens if we fall?" I ask knowing the answer as soon as I say it.

"Boom goes the cannon," Lynette says and without another word lunges forward onto the platform in front of us. She lands steadily on and quickly dives through a hoop to land on the next platform. I quickly follow suit and am soon standing on the same soft platform that she is. I jump onto the platform in front, taking the lead and as I use some handles on the wall to crawl round the corner I see the end of the course. At the end is a soft cushion with supplies on top.

"Lynette supplies!" I shout and begin to run through the course much quicker. I dive over objects and avoid swinging pipes until I land on the penultimate platform. This time the gap between the two is much larger but I know I must do this if I want to succeed.

"Cole be careful," I feel Lynette's warm breath in my ear. She could just push me into that abyss right now, she could take all of the supplies and get rid of a competitor, but I don't think she's like that. I jump forward quickly and grapple my hands around the edge as my feet miss. I don't wait in dragging myself up and I run over to the supplies. I tuck a knife into my pocket and a water bottle before searching through the food to see if there is anything particularly nice.

"Cole," I suddenly hear Lynette scream. I turn around and see her fingers slowly slipping off the edge of the platform. I begin to run over but stop. This is the Hunger Games, why should I save her? I'm not a sadistic, cruel person but one less person ups the chances of my survival. I've got the supplies to do well now, do I really need Lynette.

"I'm sorry," I say before turning around and darting away with the supplies. I soon find my way out of the room and within another hour I'm lying in a room ready to sleep, but Lynette's cannon never went off...

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**A/N: So... another action filled chapter? Another death and an alliance breaks up... So that is now the second time Ruby has been branded a coward for running away and yes... Lynette is not dead, will she want revenge on Cole?**

**Aurelie - Oh poor Aurelie, I really liked her aswell but it was between her and Katri and I wanted to keep Katri around. She was a great character though and I'm sure she'll be remembered.**

**Review please.**


	37. The Route to Victory

**Day Four Part One**

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**Maisie Dox's POV (12):**

"Maisie," I hear Guire's soft voice and his hand rubbing my shoulder. "Maisie, get up they're making an announcement," he says and as he does I hear the blare of trumpets. I open my eyes quickly and sit up, my eyes lock onto the speaker in the corner of the room as if it is going to make me hear it better.

"Guests," I hear that stupid hotel manager's voice. "As always we hope that you are having a nice stay in the hotel. Today we are going to provide two of you with some entertainment. Through lottery style two of you will be chosen to compete against each other in a battle. This battle will take place in a restricted area. But, the two of you competing against each other will be district partners. This means that the district 1 and district 10 tributes are not able to be drawn as they don't have a district partner still alive," the voice pauses to let us consume all of the information. This means that if I'm drawn I will be forced to battle against Sae, that's not fair, she's only young. And if Guire's chosen he will have to face Katri. I'm about to begin talking to him but the voice starts again.

"Okay, now onto the draw. The district chosen to face each other is," he pauses. Maybe this is live right now, across Panem everyone will be watching the hand pick out a district. "District 5. Steen Klein will face off against Isabelle Rayner." I sigh in relief but then instantly feel bad. Those two are close and are allied and now they must kill one another. But atleast it's not me and Sae and atleast it's not Guire and Katri. I look toward Guire and give a shy smile.

"I completely forgot about district 5," he says shaking his head as if he has done something wrong.

"Yeah same. They were quite quiet during the interviews and training. I doubt either of them have even made a kill yet. Maybe they rigged it so them two were put into more action, or maybe the Capitol got to chose who was battling and they chose them because they've done nothing," I say thinking through all the possibilities. It would have been so much better if those district 2 or 4 tributes had to face each other, it would have gotten rid of good competition.

"Yeah maybe," Guire agrees nodding. "Who do you think will win between them?"

"I'm not sure they were both about the same age weren't they. Maybe the boy will overpower the girl."

"He probably will. Although they might not want to fight each other."

"Then the gamemakers would just think of some 'amazing' way of killing both of them. If they have any common sense they'll realize that they have to fight each other," I reply.

"I think they'll have enough common sense, I can't remember them being dumb or anything although the boy, Steen, had a weird edge to him. What was the girl called?"

"Isabelle."

"Ha that's funny," he says a lovely smile appearing across his face. "That's what my little sister always wanted to call her daughter when she's older."

"Oh really?" I reply a smile coming to my face now that I'm thinking of family. "What's your sister called?"

"She's called Emile, she's only twelve. But I have another sister called Olivian and a brother called Carreg. Do you have any siblings?"

"No, just me, my Mam and my Dad. I've always wanted a little sister though, but I've always known that would be impossible, it would just be another mouth to feed," I sigh.

"Yeah, I guess having more people in my family kind of helps. It means that more people can work and more money can be brought into the house. There's plenty of jobs available in district 7, plenty of trees to chop down. Oh, I miss district 7..."

"I miss district 12," I reply.

"What's it like? District 12? People always say it's the poorest district, people always say that the people who live there are just scruffs," he says.

"Yeah that's about right in parts, but I'm not too bad am I?" I say laughing.

"No not at all. You don't look anything like a scruff, you look nice," he says and as he does I feel an instant blush in my cheek.

"You don't look too bad yourself. But I guess most people in district 7 are muscular, right?"

"Yeah I suppose, it depends where you're looking. I haven't been to most of district 7 anyway, I'm told it's the largest district so it would be quite hard to do that. How big is district 12?" he asks.

"It mustn't be too big 'cos I've been to most of the places. There's the seam, the merchant's and the town."

"Is that like ranking classes?" he asks sounding quite interested.

"Yeah I guess," I say rather quietly as a single tear slips down my cheek.

"Oh, it would be cool to go to district 12, you know, sometime," he says obviously daydreaming.

"Yeah, well we'll have to get out of this stupid arena first," I say standing up and walking over to the latched door.

"Yeah..."

"And you know the only way to do that?" I ask firmly a new passion growing inside of me for one of us to win.

"To kill? But that's wrong."

"But it's also the only way you'll get out of here Guire. If you really want to get home to your family you have to understand that it's what you have to do. Now get up and let's get going. One of us is going home, we're not sitting here for a days on end waiting for our deaths. Trust me Guire, if I don't win this, you will."

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**Harabel Lucsley's POV (4):**

The arrow flashes gently pointing right and I take a quick turn making sure to watch where I'm going at all times. I continue walking listening to the soft beeping sounding of my device. So far the stupid thing has proven not very handy at all. It said that the district 3 tributes were on floor seventeen, a long trek up the stairs proved that they weren't. It said that Collin and Sae were on floor one but once again, they weren't. I had decided that the thing was illogical and useless but after seeing Ruby Dazzle sprint past me last night this thing, I believe, has actually been leading me in the right direction. Maybe I might have been the tiniest bit wrong to say that it was illogical.

"You have reached your destination," a woman's voice suddenly says out of the device. I stop still in my tracks and see the wooden door next to me. So the little cowardly bitch is in here, is she? How illogical to hide. Surely someone from the likes of district 1 would know that hiding only results in you being trapped and being trapped somewhere in the Hunger Games usually results in death. Nevertheless it just makes it a bit easier for me. I stuff the device into my jacket pocket and walk towards the door, silently.

I draw my longer knife out of my belt and raise my boot high up before kicking the door as hard as I can. I hear a screech from inside and more than one voice. So Ruby has got a little ally. I jump into the room where Ruby is backed up against the wall, mace in hand. Unfortunately there isn't anyone else here, there's just a TV and a woman is blathering away on it.

"You're in the arena and you're watching TV. Do you not understand how illogical that is? First of all why watch TV when you could be out killing people and second of all people might be able to hear you. I really didn't realize how dumb you are Mrs. Dazzle," I say turning my knife between my fingers. "I bet you haven't even made any kills."

"Shut up you district 4 scum! Ofcourse I've made kills, I've made five actually," she replies beginning to swing her mace. "And I'm sure it won't be long before I've made six." I'm about to reply when the volume on the TV suddenly rises.

"Ruby Dazzle, I have not assigned you to kill Harabel Lucsley. Your next destination is on floor five, where you must kill either Lars Staal or Jesseca Mira." The screen changes to show the two district three tributes standing in a room on floor three.

"What is that?" I say edging closer to the TV. "What does it mean, your destination?" I ask holding my knife higher.

"I am Ruby's challenger. Once she entered this room she was put under my control. She must complete my challenges or she will die," the voice of the screen tells me.

"But that's so... illogical. How many challenges have you been set so far?" I demand.

"That's my third," she says.

"That's not fair. You are basically being given kills on a plate. It has given you the upper hand in a game where you should only have the upper hand if you've worked for it. It's so irrational and shows disrespect for others in the game. It's almost as if the Capitol want you to win, you!" I vent all of my fury out in one go.

"I don't see why you are so bothered to be honest," Ruby retorts. "Move out the way I need to go kill some district 3."

"NO! You will not kill district 3 because I'm going to kill you," I scream at her and run towards her. Within a second I've slashed her face with a knife and am wiping her blood onto my clothing so that it does not get everywhere. She screams childishly and swings her mace towards my skull. I move out of the way though and the mace crashes into the floor.

"Ruby Dazzle, we remind you that your next destination is on floor five," the voice says again.

"Well, I'm killing this illogical brat first," Ruby screams at the TV and hoists the mace out of the floor.

"How on Earth am I illogical?" I ask and kick her in the chest. She doesn't answer me though and the fight continues from there. I push her and slash her over the chest with the knife but she reacts quick and manages to cut my arm. With no moment to spare I push her straight onto the floor and jump on top of her.

"Who has the upper hand now?" I ask snatching the mace out of her grasp and dropping it straight onto her stomach. The spikes must do something to her as she screams out in agony. I place the knife on her cheek when suddenly her teeth lash out and bite me. In response I clamp her jaw shut with my fist and hold two of my fingers over her nose. I punch her again in the face and shove the knife into her mouth. She can't even scream this time, I slash the knife once the drag it out covered in blood.

"I guess you're time is up Ruby. In the end you just made too many illogical decisions," I say shaking my head and pushing the knife through her neck. I hoist the mace at the TV which cuts out almost instantly and walk out of the room. A minute later her cannon booms.

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**A/N: As always I hope you liked the chapter. And so next chapter is Steen v Isabelle. And this chapter was the end of Ruby.**

**Ruby - I was planning for her to die soon as the challenge thing I think had begun to run it's cause. Plus I wanted Harabel to have an epic fight scene. She was a good character and with her death comes the end of district 1.**

**Review please.**


	38. It's a Fighting Battle

**A/N: Day Four Part Two**

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**Steen Klein's POV (5):**

"Steen, we don't have to do what they say. We don't have to battle against each other, please Steen just listen to me. You're not even looking at me. Steen!" Isabelle rants at me but I continue to face the floor making sure not to look towards her once. In not too long I will be forced to battle against her for my life and as much as I don't want to it is what I have to do. After I killed Nicky I didn't care but I can't help but feel that Isabelle is different. We're allies. We're friends. We're from the same district. But I have to block all of that out and remember that all that matters is my safety. I'll face the consequences once I win.

"Isabelle just stop," I finally say turning towards her. Her eyes are teary and she looks angry, her fists are clenched by her side also. "Look when we go in there I want you to fight me, I want you to have a chance because it wouldn't be fair for me to just kill you if you're not trying. Look one of us is going to win and the other is going to lose. There's going to be no 'we're not doing what they say', because if we don't do what they say they'll make no hesitation in killing us both. And we're not both going down, you got me?"

"Yeah, I get you," she says after a long pause. "Just remember me, if you win I mean." I nod my head and close my eyes awaiting the moment that is going to come pretty soon. After a few minutes I hear a few soft clicking noises and quickly open my eyes. I can no longer see Isabelle or the room I was in. The room I am in now is see through but I can see nothing on the other side, the walls are blue and have white outlines all around them, like blueprints.

I stand up slowly and begin to run my hands along the wall but my hand goes straight through and begins to burn on the other side. I guess that is so I stay in. Maybe it's like a transportation device to take me to wherever me and Isabelle are going to be fighting. I sit back down on the floor and try to listen for anything but there is nothing that I can hear. Suddenly the room I'm in jolts slightly causing me to fall onto my back and then the room around me disappears and I am left surrounded by colours.

"Your battle may begin," a robotic voice suddenly announces. What I stand up quickly and look around for Isabelle but I can't see her anyway. All I see is orange and black. But the orange is moving quickly and bubbles are arising from them every now and again. The black is not moving it's solid, it's rock. I begin to move quickly I run over to the black but suddenly shadows are cast everywhere. Orange begins to run down the black and I suddenly realize where I am. I'm in a volcano... The orange, it's lava and the black is just the outside. The drastically hot temperature gets to me and I am forced to chuck my jacket off. It's soon swept away by the constant flow of lava.

"Your weapon," the robotic voice says and suddenly a katana appears in front of me. I grab hold of the handle and begin to slash it around. This thing is nowhere near as good as a bo staff. A rumbling sound fills my eardrums all of a sudden and the piece of land I was on shoots up along with many others. The lava speeds up aswell and I realize that the thing I'm standing on is a platform, it's protecting me from the lava. If I fall, I die. I'll have to make sure that I don't.

I jump onto the next platform and for the first time I see a shadow that isn't my own. A girl's shadow, Isabelle. She's way off in the distance on another one of these platforms. I quickly begin to jump between the platforms, I can make this a lot easier for myself by just teasing her to the edge of her platform so she falls into the lava. I jump and jump until she finally notices me and instead of staying still or running away like I expected her to she begins to run towards me jumping over double platforms and swinging her katana madly.

Soon there is just one platform between the two of us and we both jump at the same time landing on each edge of the platform.

"This is it," I mutter to no-one other than myself.

"You ready?" she says. "You said it has to be fair. So raise your katana and we'll bow once before fighting."

I can't believe how calm she is being. And I can't believe that I had definitely counted her out of this, maybe she has a chance.

I nod my head, raise my katana and bow. She does the same. Then the fight commences.

I swing my katana rapidly towards her and make a long line across her forehead. She begins to stagger back almost falling off the end but just before she does she uses the tip of her katana to swing herself around and before I know it she slashes me in the stomach. I'm too late to react and so I feel blood rising from my skin. I begin to back away from her and use the end of the katana to warn her away. The fight is pretty much silent apart from the breaths that the two of us keep on taking. That soon ends though when a piercing scream leaves her mouth. She's been burnt by the lava, it's rising. If we don't end this soon both of us will be engulfed in it. I dive at her and accidentally drop my katana. It drops off the edge with a small pop and I mange to grab hers and throw it to the side aswell. I quickly pounce on top of her and hold her face to the floor. I just need to push her off of the edge and then it's done.

"Let go," she screams and with a surge of anger pushes me over the top of her. I fling sideways and begin to fall of the edge. My time has come and this is the end, I fall further and I see Isabelle's sorry eyes because she knows that this is the end for me but then I see it. Her jacket zip has caught onto my shirt and I try to tell her but it's too late, she's suddenly dragged down with me and I cling on to her. No-one from district 5 will win this year because we're both going down.

That's what I'm thinking until I feel my back hit the ground but it isn't a soft burning feeling like I expected, it's cold. So cold and neither of us are dead, because they couldn't have let both of us die. So they've just changed the environment we're in. We're in a frozen iceland. I quickly push Isabelle off of me and then as easy as that she falls below the freezing ice. I see her fingers slip away and then the ice closes over her. I see her shadow underneath. I see her trying to swim back up and I see her battering her fists against the ice.

Her actions are useless. I drag myself away, feeling ashamed that I've caused her such a painful death. I'm forced to sit while Isabelle dies underneath the ice. The minutes pass by slowly, how much pain she must be in now and it's all my fault. She won aswell, she beat me but because of me dragging her down with me she's dead now. I twiddle my thumbs in the freezing cold until her cannon booms and within two seconds I'm sat back in the hotel staring at the spot she used to sit in. Isabelle's dead and it's all my fault.

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**A/N: And so another one falls leaving sixteen left. Did you expect it to be Isabelle?**

**Isabelle - I was planning to keep her longer but after randomly drawing the district that would fight against each other it had to be Isabelle that died. She was good though.**

**Review please.**


	39. Journeys Ahead

**Day Five Part One**

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**Collin Etheren's POV (8):**

"Hello Guests," the Hotel's voice suddenly screeches through any speakers close to say and I. "We would like to congratulate the sixteen of you who have made it to day five. In celebration of you reaching day five we are going to host a banquet for you. This won't be any old banquet it will have everything you need to keep yourself alive in this arena. Please consider celebrating your survival with all of the other tributes, this will be held on floor twenty in two hours." The voice cuts out quickly and I am left sitting on the floor absorbing in all of the information that they told us.

"We're going, right?" Sae asks warily.

"I am, you're not," I say standing up. "Don't worry I'll get supplies for both of us."

"But what if you get hurt?" she asks standing up aswell and gripping onto my hand. "I don't want you to end up like Merriet.

"Sae you know that I won't get hurt. I'm strong now you just sit down, I won't be too long we're on floor seventeen so it won't take long to get up there," I say facing the ceiling as if it is going to help us.

"Fine but promise me you won't get hurt," she says childishly holding out her little finger.

"Pinky promise," I say clutching onto it with my own little finger and laughing.

"Okay I'll see you in a few hours then," she says holding her arms out in what I assume is a hug but as I begin to walk towards her she pulls a thin knife out of her pocket and hands it to me.

"Sae this is a katana, where did you get it from?" I ask quickly taking it from her hands like a cautious parent.

"It was just lying on the floor when I went for a little walk last night," she says shrugging.

"What floor?"

"Fourteen."

"Okay, well you have to be careful up here. While I'm gone I want you to hide and stay hidden. Just have a drink every now and again, okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," she replies smiling and walking away.

I don't look back from there and begin to walk slowly out of the room that we have hidden ourselves in. The walk goes quickly from there to the stairs and once I'm on the stairs I make sure to stay quiet. I'm pretty sure there is only one set of stairs in the hotel so I assume if there is another fifteen tributes atleast one other person is walking up them. I lean over the handrail in the centre and look up and down but I can't see any hands clutching onto the rail to climb, but who would be stupid enough to do that. I think the only thing that is going to give away the fact I'm on the stairs is the small echo that carries out after every beat, they've probably designed the stairs with the perfect type of metal so they do this.

I climb the stairs slowly because of this and in a matter of minutes I have reached floor twenty, the door is a wooden one like something you would see in an old cottage and there is a few holes it here and there. I slowly pat my feet on the metal floor until my hand is resting gently on the carpety door-knob. I twist it under my grasp and it slowly creaks open to reveal the room. The floor is a cushioning carpet so I needn't worry about my feet being heard. I quickly jump in and roll onto the floor but I wouldn't have been seen anyway because I am surrounded by plants. I creep my way around them until I can see the banquet.

It's a very long table full with loads of delights, food, drink, supplies, weapons basically anything that can help you in this place. But around the table is a boundary that is clearly marked out my a laser red light that keeps on zooming around the glass wall. I assume as soon as it has been two hours the wall will disappear releasing us to fight. That can't be too long away. Yes the walk went quick but that doesn't mean that time went slow, it was only because I was occupied with my thoughts.

I suddenly hear a shuffling noise on the other side of the room and for the first time it dawns on me that I'm not the only one in here. This room is massive, I can see, so for all I know all of the other tributes could be waiting in here. Perhaps the gamemakers have designed it so we all enter at different parts, they wouldn't want the entertainment to happen before the actual feast had even begun, would they?

The shuffling noise stops almost as quickly as it began and my eyes dart to the source but all I can see is plants, I cautiously move back from my plants and look around my surroundings but it seems there is no-one close to me at all. I unstiffen my legs by straightening them out and over the course of the next hour or so it is really quite uneventful. There is a shuffle a creak a bang a footstep and a sniffle but that is all that happens before I hear the familiar voice again.

"Thank you to all that are attending the banquet, I am sure the majority of you will have a lovely time." And with the voice the glass wall suddenly arises and I take no time in leaping out of the plants.

I sprint towards the table with ease trying not to think of the fact that someone could easily kill me with the throw of a knife or the shoot of an arrow. I'm pretty sure I'm the first one there and my hand darts towards the first thing on the table that happens to be some poison. I stuff the small bottle into my pocket and pick up some food and drink before stuffing that into my pocket, also.

It's not long before my whole bag is pretty full and I face my first encounter with someone. Lynette Caraway, my district partner. I swing my katana at her quickly and is slashes across her cheek bone making blood arise quickly. Anger fills her face quick enough and she swings a knife at me. I'm lucky enough to deflect the shot with my katana but I fall on the floor due to the weight of my bag. She begins to walk over to me an evil glint in her eyes but the it changes to a different anger. And she pushes me out of the way, my eyes follow her trail and I watch her heading for the boy from district 9.

I'm about to run away while I have the chance but I hear her scream and my eyes quickly dart back to her. Cole has stabbed her once and he looks guilty, he looks around a few times before disappearing out of the room. All that can be heard is the panting of tributes and screams, I see enemies all around me and I take one look at Lynette's almost lifeless body before scarping out of the room clutching tightly onto my bag. Just as I leave the room and begin to run down the stairs her cannon booms. I'm the only one from district 8 now.

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**A/N: Sorry for there only being one POV but if there was more it would have taken me longer to update. So the next part of the feast will be the next chapter. **

**Lynette - I didn't have as much going for her as I did with the other tributes so I decided it would be best if she was next. Plus she wasn't as liked as most other tributes. Sorry.**

**Thanks for reading and go vote on the poll on my profile. Review please.**


	40. Death's Doorstep

**Day Five Part Two**

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**Theodore McKee's POV (10):**

"Just pick up what you can," Katri screeches at me as we reach the table. I look around me frantically hoping no-one is approaching but luckily for me fighting seems to be going on elsewhere. I quickly begin to stuff anything I can into my bag not thinking about what it is. My eyes divert back to Katri who is doing the same as me.

"Let's go," I suddenly say beginning to pull away her arm but then the worst thing possible happens as that physcopath from district 2 jumps in front of us.

"Where do you think you's are going?" Cavail says madly twirling a knife inbetween his fingers. My heart begins to beat rapidly. This is the end, isn't it? I can't survive against this human, if I can even call him that. I begin to pull away at Katri's arm but before I can she pulls out her knife that we were rewarded by our sponsors.

"Theo move back," she says calmly pushing me behind her and before I have time to think about Katri's safety I madly dart away to the side of the room where I watch Katri and Cavail. I clutch my two fingers together in hope for Katri and suddenly the two begin to fight. Katri fights much better than I expected as she makes the first move slashing Cavail over the face with her knife. He rebounds quickly with a slice to the thigh and although the two of them seem to be very good at aiming their weapons they don't seem to be able to deflect very well.

"I'm warning you," Katri suddenly shouts loud enough for me to hear as she holds her porcelain like hand out and begins to back away. My heart fears for her as it beats slowly but painfully as I am forced to watch. I know what the outcome of this is going to be but I have to watch and support Katri but then when it's over I have to run and save myself. There is going to be no fantasy rebellion like I thought, any signs of that disappeared when I first set my eyes on the arena and the devilish tributes that inhabit it.

Speaking of devilish tributes Cavail lunges his sword forward unexpectedly and catches Katri off guard. She flinches and drops the knife quickly dropping onto the floor to retrieve it, something that I thought would be a fatal move but Katri shocks me further as when Cavail bends down to slash his crimson coloured knife across her neck she swings her back leg around connecting perfectly with the left side of his jaw. He growls evilly at this but is quick to rebound the blow with a fist to the face. The fight carries on like this for moments to come and the longer the battle goes on the further away I go to the back of the room. My instincts begin to tell me to run because that is what Katri would want but another part of me is saying stay because Katri will win and we can escape together.

Either way I have to convince myself that I will definitely get out of this.

"Argh," Cavail suddenly screams and my eyes divert to Katri's knife which has been lodged into Cavail's arm. He drops his knife probably because of the numbness and in that second Katri pushes Cavail to the floor pulling the knife out of his arm. She takes no hesitation in driving the knife towards his face and for a second it looks likely to be the end but Cavail punches her in the forehead and her knife drops to the floor. Cavail is on top of her in a second punching her repetitively and there is no doubt about it that he could kill her with his bare hands. Those bare hands wrap around her neck and begin to batter her against the floor and my heart sinks.

This is the end.

She's about to go.

I uncross my fingers as I know all hope for her is lost but just as I turn around to run out of the room I see her fingers lock around the knife. I see the knife rise and I see the knife stab him in the stomach. I see him wince and fall, she pulls the knife up and out and a large gash is left in his stomach. BOOM.

Within seconds her eyes direct towards me and looking tired she gets up and jogs slowly over. The cheeky smile appears on my face and I stand up in joy but the next second makes all the difference.

The next second I see her smile and I see her joyful eyes. I see her whole life running through her, until I see Kai. The knife glides through the air and in that one second her head lies on the floor, now unattached to her body. The shrill scream leaves my mouth just as her cannon booms, my heart beats faster and faster and I turn and run. I run out the door and my tiny feet clatter each step as I go down and down. I pass countless floors until I come to the bottom. I curl myself up in the corner and cry, that image will never leave my mind.

Never.

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**Jesseca Mira's POV (3):**

"Lars, it's a mine," I say touching him on the shoulder. "Look it's over there on the end of the table, it's a mine from district 3. They probably put it there for us, you know." Lars doesn't respond to my words and instead keeps his eyes firmly locked on the three dead bodies that so far litter the floor. I don't know what he could be thinking because it's not like he hasn't killed yet, after all it was him that started the fire.

"Yeah, let's go for it," he suddenly says. By now most people have left the feast apart from Vika and Kai who are chatting idly near the table. Their backs are turned and we make a quick run for it. Within seconds my hands are closing around the mine and as it is extremely small I shove it into my jacket pocket. I turn around and begin to run back but suddenly Guire and Maisie appear from nowhere and Lars is too busy collecting what he can from the table.

"It's district 3," I hear one of them mutter to the other.

"Yes, yes it is," I say shakily pulling the mine out of my pocket. "Now leave me alone, or I'll blow you up," I say hesitantly holding it in front of me.

"Guire, leave this to me," Maisie says pushing Guire aside. "We don't want to hurt you, just let us get some stuff."

"No," I shake my head and begin to walk closer with the mine.

"Come on be reasonable," she says beginning to move a little closer to me and then I see the shock evident in her eyes. I turn around too late as I feel Kai's dry hands wrap around my body and throw me to the floor. I don't take time to think I press the button on the mine and throw it somewhere. The quiet ticking sets off to indicate it is only a matter of time before the bomb explodes. I'd rather take all of these down with me than go down by myself.

Kai's hands hold me to the floor hard and he curses as I claw at his face. I hear frantic screams all around me as I see Vika run towards Guire. I see blood splattered on the floor as Vika brings the knife across Maisie's thigh but the cut doesn't look too deep.

I scream as Kai's hand wraps around my neck and for the first time he hits me. The pain is almost unbearable and the tears come rolling instantly.

"LARS!" I scream. Where is he? He was in this room a matter of seconds ago, unless he's got himself caught up in his own fight. I try to look around as my head gets banged across the floor but everything is blurred.

"Don't try and get help, you scum," Kai shouts at me as he yanks at my hair, it appears he doesn't have any weapons with him. My eyes stare into his but all I hear is the ticking of the mine and the silence. As Kai grips onto my cheek he twists my head to the side in a failed attempt of snapping my neck. The action only causes my head to hit the floor and my eyes once again meet Maisie, Guire and Vika. The scene has much changed since I last looked. Maisie and Guire have managed to defend themselves against the wall and Vika is edging closer and closer to them.

That's when my eyes begin to fade as I feel Kai's fingers suck the life out of me. My breaths are nothing now and the more I try the more I struggle. He knows this aswell and for some reason he lets go. My left eye opens slightly.

"Jess get up!" Lars voice screams at me and my other eye flutters open as well. I feel his solid arms wrap around me and I feel his hands enclose my body against his. He whispers something inaudible into my ear which makes my eyes stay open. He hoists me onto his shoulder and I see the position he has left Kai in, but Kai is running after us and he clearly wants revenge.

"Detonation in thirty seconds," a robotic voice says.

This causes someone to scream in the room as Lars planks me down on the floor and turns to Kai. Instantly he punches the burly district 4 boy in the face and he falls to the ground. I begin to pick myself up slightly, hoping I have the energy to escape this nightmare.

I stick my feet into the floor and edge ever so closer to the door. More screams sound and the ticking continues. Kai delivers a punch to Lars and soon both of the boys are on the floor. The ticking scares me though and I run over and grab Lars. I kick Kai away and begin to drag him out of the room.

"Ten seconds."

I drag him out of the room but I feel a hand grab onto my ankle. I scream and fall to the floor. Kai lunges past me to safety and shoves me evilly back into the room and then runs down the stairs forgetting about me and the others, even his ally Vika. I feel Lars' hands grip onto mine, I see one pair of feet run past me at high speed then an explosion blows up the room and I am tossed violently into a wall. My breathing stops and my eyes go blurry.

I still feel Lars' hand in mine and I shake it to indicate I'm alright. He presses my little finger and I clear my vision to see Maisie's panting body at the bottom of the stairs, her head is held in her hands and all of us are in a bad state. For a minute or two we are sat there until the fog clears making out the two dead bodies that lie in the middle of the room tightly grasping onto one another in what I suppose was a fight.

So if Maisie's in here and Kai escaped, that must be Vika and Guire.

BOOM, BOOM.

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**A/N: Well, there was a lot more deaths there than I expected but it was the feast so... I hope you liked it, it all got a bit crazy towards the end. Now...**

**Cavail: I'm not sure, Kai seems to have a bigger impact and he hasn't been as epic in the arena as I expected him to be really.**

**Katri: Katri was always going to die soonish and it was cruel how she did. I really liked her though at times and now little Theo is all by himself.**

**Vika: I was planning to keep Vika longer that this but I guess her time has came.**

**Guire: I don't know why... he was like one of my favourite characters and I was considering him being a victor but I wanted one of either Maisie and or him to die and I chose Maisie not to. It's a real shame but it is the Hunger Games.**

**11 left and district 7 and 2 have just been wiped out.**

**Vote on the new poll please and review.**


	41. New Battles

**Day Five Part Three**

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**Maisie Dox's POV (12):**

The tears stain the corners of my eyes as it begins to feel sticky and for the first time I jumped from the explosion I lift my head up and see the two bodies that belong to the district 3 allies. I hear them talking before, I know they're alive but they might be injured and the smoke from the explosion is still flooding the air. I lift myself up onto my feet and I hear the rustle of Jesseca also lifting herself up. Just minutes ago I was bargaining with her not to set off the mine, but she did and because of that Guire is dead. I nip myself hoping this is just a dream but I feel the sharp pain and wipe another tear from my eye. Why am I crying? He was just another tribute from district seven, he was just another obstacle to get past, I should be happy that he's dead - it means less competition.

I try to make myself think that again and again but to no avail. Guire meant so much to me, he was my friend and something inside of me was telling me we could both get out.

I take one step forward and Jesseca does also.

"Stay away," she says holding her hand out in front of her. "I'm warning you," she says and then I hear a pained groan.

"What's the matter with him?" I say ignoring what she was saying.

"He's injured, now shut up and leave or I can't guarantee you'll be alive for much longer," she says in a threatening tone.

"What's the matter with him?"

"I don't know," she cries, "I'm not a doctor, now get lost," she begins to walk towards me now.

"No. Let me help him, I'm a healer," I bargain.

"No, how dare you! You'll just kill him, I'm not letting you anywhere near him!" she shouts angrily. "Just because your allies have been killed off you don't have to kill off mine."

"I don't want to kill him!" I shout. "I haven't killed anyone, I want to help him. I'm a healer, I promise." She pauses and looks at me suspiciously.

"You are a healer, you said in your interview. But why would you want to help him?"

"Because if I help him then you can help me."

"What would we be able to help you with?" she asks a chuckle escaping from her mouth.

"Just the normal, food, water, supplies. With three people in an alliance we'll be more popular which also means more sponsors," I say walking further forward towards Lars.

"I guess so," she says quietly placing her hand on her head and walking in front of Lars.

"So do you want him to be saved or not?" I ask.

"Yeah, but what do you plan to save him with?" she responds.

"Lars is a popular fellow among the people of the Capitol. After hearing this conversation between the two of us someone will send him a sponsor in no time."

"You're clever," she says knitting her eyebrows together.

"I know," I laugh kneeling down next to Lars and rolling him other onto his back. I look at his face, his eyes look grey as they fade from open to shut and his face looks pale. Then he suddenly coughs spluttering all over my hand. He begins to struggle breathing and heavy sighs leave his lips.

"Does Lars smoke?" I ask.

"Yes," she says looking worried.

"Okay, I'm afraid he has had a large intake of smoke into his lungs and the fact that he smokes really doesn't help as his lungs have already been put into a bad state. I need to maintain an open airway and he needs oxygen quick. Also the fact that he is coughing means that his airways are possibly narrowed or blocked, I will also need a bronchodilator to relax his muscles and also to increase ventilation."

"Then we need sponsors, now! Quick! He's dying for God's sake why isn't there a parachute floating down here. Come on!" she screams to the ceiling but it stays firmly shut and no parachute appears. I look at her worried and imagine how she must be feeling, maybe how I felt when I first lost Guire. In fact in the last five or so minutes I haven't thought of him once. My eyes peer into the room where the feast was held and the two dead bodies belonging to Guire and Vika still lie there, the gamemakers are probably waiting for us to leave before they collect their bodies.

"Jess, calm down," I suddenly say grabbing hold of her shoulders.

"But the sponsors, their not here!"

"Well they're probably just ordering them now. Before you know it there will be an oxygen mask on his face and he'll be saved," I give a quick look behind my shoulder at Guire. "We'll you just give me a minute." I think she realises what I mean and she nods her head.

I stand up and begin to walk slowly into the room, it looks like a bomb site, well it is a bomb site. I try to ignore my surroundings and walk straight over to Guire. His body is mangled destroyed but one thing that isn't is his face. I place my hand on his dusty cheek and write the letter 'G' in the dust. A small smile comes across my face and a tear drops from my eye splashing onto his mouth. I wish that the tear would bring him back to life but he stays motionless.

I tilt my head down and press my lips gently against his forehead.

"Goodbye Guire, I'll win this for you," I say beginning to walk away when I see a small parachute falling down in the other room and I hear Jess' excited squeaks. A whole new terrifying adventure awaits me.

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**A/N: Sorry for a really short chapter and that I haven't updated in a while but I was busy. This chapter was going to have two POV's but I want it to be in day six and I needed to update. Anyway, hope you like our new alliance.**


	42. Tough Exterior

**Day 6 Part 1**

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**Luna Rose's POV (9):**

"Wake up!" I suddenly hear a voice snarl at me. My eyes fly open almost instantly and I am left facing with a frightening sight, I have paid no attention to who is still left in the arena but I know that this girl standing in front of me is one of the fiercest competitors left. I scurry backwards until my back hits against the wall.

"Why run? That's illogical," she says unsheathing a long knife from her crimson belt and stepping closer to me. "Because if you run you're only going to give yourself less energy for when you battle me..."

"Just leave me alone, you.. you," I stutter while trying to think of an insult, "creep!"

"Name-calling, huh? Do you seriously think I will be offended by that? I guess you're even more immature than you look, what's your name as I think it would be quite rude to refer to you as nine?" she says lunging towards me and suddenly pinning her knife against my stomach but not enough to make a cut.

"Luna," I gulp.

She pauses for a few seconds while looking me up and down, "how old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Oh so young, but your age is irrelevant. I must kill who I have to kill Luna, and unfortunately you're my next kill." She says all at once then slashing her knife slightly up. I push her away just before though and luckily enough she stumbles a little giving me the chance to dart down the corridor.

"What did I say about running Luna?" the girl taunts chasing after me. I never was the fastest runner in district 9, I was always known for my imagination... having my head in the sky. But that won't help me now. I don't think anything can. Because all I am is the Capitol's bait, right now millions will be watching as this career chases me down the corridor of this stupid arena. They'll all be cheering her on, not me, not the little girl from district 9.

So no-one expects it when I stop dead in my tracks and turn around to face the career. No-one expects it when I hold my hand out in front of me for her to stop and no-one expects it when she actually does. Her eyes widen in shock and she holds her knife by her side. On the other hand I am left weaponless, all of my supplies abandoned where I first encountered this girl.

"What's your name?" I question.

"Irrelevant."

"It wasn't so irrelevant when you asked me my name, was it?" I reply slyly.

"Harabel Lucsley, district four."

"I killed your district partner," I reply trying to sound calm and not scared.

"He was just another tribute, no-one important. Just like you.

"And you, then."

"No, I am important, I'm going to be the winner of the Hunger Games," she shouts sounding victorious already. "He and you on the other hand are just other tributes I have to pass to get to my goal."

"And you're just another tribute I have to pass to get to mine," I say back trying to put on the same exterior that she is giving me.

"I like your attitude girl," she says.

"My name's Luna."

"I know, you're called Luna Rose and unlike me you're an underdog that no-one expects to win."

"Then the Capitol will be surprised when I do," I reply coolly.

"Why are you so confident? It's quite illogical when you have no weapons and you're only twelve year old. You stand next to no chance, especially when your next competitor is me," she says.

"Does my next competitor have to be you? Our next competitor could be someone else," I say putting extra emphasis on the word our. Although it's highly unlikely maybe there is a small chance that Harabel will ally with me.

"Allies are illogical and might lead to friendship, something that I don't want or need in the arena," she replies robotically, her grip tightens on the knife.

"Did I mention the word ally? It's more like a bit of teamwork to get rid of extra competition."

"Why would I want to team up with you?" she says almost in disgust.

"Because I'm no competition to you, am I?" I bargain.

"No-one is competition to me," she says proudly. "Also who says you can get rid of the other tributes."

"I got rid of Chris, didn't I?"

"So you say," she says placing her knife back in her belt. "You know what Luna, I'm not going to kill you. You can hang about with me for the meantime and maybe you can help but know that by the time these games have finished your body will be dead and buried."

"I was just about to say the same thing to you," I say following her as she begins to walk down the corridor. Now I just have to keep this tough exterior and maybe, just maybe I'll stand a chance.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in forever. I've been very busy and I know this chapter is short but atleast I've updated. So yeah new alliance, kind of. **


	43. Defiance

**Day Six Part Two**

* * *

**Sae Volnur's POV (12):**

"Have you had something to drink today?" Collin turns to me, quirking his eyebrow. I shrug my shoulders, knowing fine well that I haven't had anything to drink today. "Sae, you need to drink," he says and then I hear him beginning to rummage around in his pack that he brought from the feast. "Here have some water," he says as a bottle of water rolls to a stand-still next to me, the contents of it almost empty.

"I'm fine, I've had plenty to drink," I say not looking him in the eye.

"Then why does that bottle have the same amount of water in it did yesterday?" he asks crawling towards me and forcing me to look at him. "Well?"

"I'm not wasting supplies."

"And how would you be wasting supplies, you're a human, you need water to live!"

"Yeah and so do you, if I drink that water there's going to be none left."

"I've got my own bottle of water," he says. "Come on man Sae, just drink, it's like you don't even want to win this."

"I don't," I mutter half hoping he hears, half hoping he doesn't.

"Oh," he says pushing the water bottle away his face turning into pure anger. "Just give up then Sae, you've clearly got no hope for yourself now," and with this he turns away and sulks over to the other side of the room.

"You don't understand!" I cry.

"I don't want to understand," is all he mutters and from there I don't speak another word. How could the argument have escalated so quickly? I want to say something, to explain but as he said he doesn't want to understand. He doesn't want to understand how I have no hope for myself whatsoever. It's because I'm so young and I know any other of the competitors would defeat me if it came to a one on one battle. It's just how the dice rolled.

I stand up and give a wave, not bothering to say anything because as he says he wouldn't understand. I take one last look then turn around, I take a left turn and begin to sprint down the corridor as fast as my little legs can stand. My feet are tiny so make little noise and I keep and keep on running. My journeys in the arena mean I'm tired after not long at all and am forced to stop in the corridor. All I can hear is my loud panting and then a clicking noise.

"What could I help you with?" a robotic voice suddenly asks. My head twist quickly and I come face to face with a man, but he's a robot man, very realistic and an obvious gamemaker mutation. I take a few steps back until my back hits against something hard.

"How may I assist you?" another voice asks, my head whips around to yet another robot. I try to keep calm but it becomes difficult, my breaths are loud and raspy and I feel itchy everywhere.

"Erm.. I'm fine," I gasp.

"You don't look fine," one of them barks at me.

"No, I am."

"Would you like some complimentary water?" one asks.

"It's fresh," the other says closing in on me with another bottle. My tiredness now makes the water tempting but I can't take it, the gamemakers are clearly trying to make me get the water while I'm vulnerable. I quickly duck underneath the two of them and begin to head down the corridor when a wall drops down in front of me, taking away any exit route.

"Would you like a drink?" one says cocking it's head, "you look awfully thirsty."

"NO!" I screech running into them and knocking one over in the process. I begin to run down the other way but just as I expected another wall appears in front of me.

"Here have some water..."

"No," I cry hitting the wall and resting my head against it. "Why does it have to be me?" I voice my thoughts out loud and then turn around to face the robots that are slowly walking towards me. In stead of speaking this time they both just hold the water out in front of me. I glare at them both individually but snatch the water from one of their hands. Unexpectedly it bursts and the water leaks everywhere.

"What?" I gasp looking up to see a knife held in front of me where the robot was holding the water. "You can't hurt me... you're just a device. You're just wires and machinery.." I try to convince myself. The knife suddenly slashes towards me and I duck underneath it quickly grabbing hold of one of the robot's legs, spikes shoot out of them though piercing my hands with thousands of little dots. I scream out in pain and kick the stupid robot in the side. Obviously this doesn't affect it at all.

"Would you like some water?" the other one still asks in the background as I begin to run away from the other robot. It draws the knife with the other hand and another one pops out in it's position leaving me basically defenceless against the beast.

It's just like I was saying to Collin, I have no chance. I'm just a little girl. The robot charges towards me and in one slash my neck is caught under it's blade. The blood rushes quick out of my neck and I fall to the ground in pain. The robot's footsteps stop and they disappear because that's their job done, they just needed to kill me, they just needed to get rid of one more tribute, just like they got rid of my brother.

"It's not fair!" I scream through agony but I have to do this, it's my last chance before I die. "It's not fair how the Capitol have sentenced me to this death, I'm below reaping age but I have still been killed by the Capitol. So come on, don't stand for it. Rebel!" And that's the last word I manage to shout before the floor collapses beneath me and I fall into permanent darkness.

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**A/N: I know it's short but I've updated quite quickly. So I hope you enjoyed it, because that's another one down and we're into our final 10. **

**Sae: I liked her, I really did but she was little and in the arena she wasn't going to stand much of a chance when it came to battle. But look at her trying to kick off a rebellion...**

**Thanks for reading and please review.**


	44. Time's Rivals

**Day Six Part Three**

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**Kai Brookshore's POV (4):**

I guess it's not much of a surprise that I've made it into the top ten, after all I am superior to all of the other tributes but what has surprised me is who has made it into the top ten with me. After seeing the faces of the dead appear in the sky I have now realised that the little boy from district 10 is still alive. If a ten year old is still alive then the tributes this year must have been pretty damn shit. I mean come on, the careers for starters. Half them died on the first die and now I'm the only one left, I guess that only makes it easier for me. The only person I need to take down now that I can consider as any competition is Harabel Lucsley. I can't wait to see her smug face when I rip it apart.

Apart from her no-one stands a chance against me. There's the district 3 tributes who just think they're amazing because they blew a room up, yeah big deal. Then there's that district 5 kid, Steen, I can't even remember him turning up at the feast so he can't be that good, and as for the others they're from district's 8, 9, 10 and 12... I think that explains them.

The blaring sound of trumpets suddenly fills my ears and I pull myself up from my sitting position so I can give the voice my full attention.

"Tributes, well done for making it into the top ten. All of you have done very well to get this far. A warning to all of you though, within an hour floors one to ten will be out of bounds. For anyone still on one of those floors when the hour ends, their hotel experience will come to an end. Also from now the main staircase is out of bounds, floor to floor staircases are still accessible." The voice suddenly cuts out and my eyes trail to the floor number on the ceiling. Ten.

Luckily for me I only have to head up one set of stairs while for other tributes they might have to head up many. I strap my backpack on and place my sword steadily by my side, if I'm extra lucky I might encounter a tribute on the way there and then I could reduce the numbers to nine.

As I walk across the corridor though it seems quite unlikely with the only sounds being my footsteps. I scrape my sword along the hotel walls leaving a long dint in the wall all the way along the corridor. I soon come to the bottom of the stairs and take my first step when suddenly the step crumbles into ashes and there is a puff of smoke as the stairs turn into some sort of obstacle course.

I should have known that getting up these stairs wouldn't be so easy, the gamemakers will do anything to make it more difficult for us. Apart from plenty of the stairs turning into pure ash some seem to have corrosive or poisonous liquids on while others have broken into separate platforms and others have risen higher than they were. I take my first leap towards the second stair and my feet land comfortably next to one of the strange looking liquids. I dip the end of my sword into it and a large sizzling sound echoes throughout the room but the sword seems unharmed. Maybe it will be more lethal now, a more interesting way to kill some more tributes.

I take another step onto one of the higher platforms and just as I do it rises up with me on it, I smile at first thinking it's just rising me closer to the top but instead it speeds up to crush me against the ceiling and I quickly dive down landing painfully on one of the larger steps. My head hits off one of the corners but I carry on jumping from one step to another until there's just two more platforms between me and the door with a number eleven on.

One of the platforms is covered in liquid while the other is rose high up. In one swift movement I jump onto the liquid platform and to stop me from slipping I quickly rebound to the higher platform. My fingers just manage to catch onto the end of it and I drag myself up easily enough. I walk forward and place a firm hand on the handle a smug smirk planted on my face when I begin to hear screams.

"Help me, please!" a little kid's voice screams. I walk over to the edge of the platform and look down to see the little boy from 10 screaming. I consider going down and killing him but I don't know how long I have before the hour is up I can't waste time trying to get an extra kill when he is just going to die anyway.

"Face it kid, you're going to die," I say plain and simple before digging out a knife from my pack and launching it down towards him. Unfortunately it lands in the floor next to him and he screeches, stares at it and then picks it up.

"I'm not going to be the one that rots in hell," he screams angrily before beginning to scale the platforms. Like I expected he falls after a little bit and the tears are visible coming out of his eyes.

"But I'm going to be the one that lives about seventy years more," I shout evilly before turning my back on the kid and pushing the door open. That kid doesn't stand a chance getting up there, he's as good as dead just like every other tribute that has step foot in this arena.

* * *

**Theodore McKee's POV (10):**

"Come back," I scream as the steps crumble underneath my feet once again making it basically impossible for me to get to the top. I slump back onto my bottom and run the blade in my fingers. It was all so much more simple when Katri and Aurelie were still here, how am I even still here? How am I not dead yet? I've managed almost six days in this blasted arena and it seems that my time is about to come to an end. I don't know what my end will be, all I know is that these floors will be out of bound.

I'm guessing I'm the only one left down here as no other tributes have desperately tried to make it up these stairs, just that evil kid from 4. Why didn't he help me? Because he's a career, he has no heart, he even through a knife down to try and kill me.

I'm pretty much anyway.. but I can't give up there must be another way up. Come on, think! How did I get to floor thirty on the first day?

The elevator. Within seconds I'm up on my feet and I'm darting down all of the stairs towards the bottom floor. I run down sets of stairs not caring how much noise I make, I have to survive and this is the only way. I run past the attic I hid in the first day and dart down the final set of stairs until I'm at the cornucopia.

"Tributes, you have one minute to leave floors one to ten before they will be out of bounds."

I dart across the room at the sound of the voice and try to find any of the elevators that I can get in. I run to the one that I came out of on day one but it is closed, I run to the one that we went to floor thirty on but it is also closed. No, how can this be? They've made it so I have on escape. My eyes trail across the room until I see it, the elevator that Ruby tore apart when trying to find that girl from district 11. In one last spurt of energy I carry myself across the room and squeeze myself through the hole in the elevator door.

"Thirty seconds."

I press button fourteen at random without hesitation and slowly the elevator makes that normal hissing sound. It takes about five seconds before the elevator moves agonisingly slowly up. We pass floor after floor and we are only on floor six by the time I hear the robotic voice say that there is only ten seconds left before the floors are out of bound. We reach floor ten and my heart rises at the possibility of staying alive and then suddenly the elevator jolts and begins to vibrate.

It's stopped moving.

"What?" I mutter to myself then scream it.

"You can't do this to me!" I cry louder and louder over and over again.

"Tributes floors one to ten are now out of bounds," and as the robotic voice says this I hear a loud hissing sound and through the large gap in the elevator door I see the room slowly turning green. It's gas, they're going to poison me with gas.

"You did this on purpose," I scream looking up. "You did this because you can't have me win! Of course you can't, my Nana was part of the rebellion and it's quite clear you can't have me around." I turn to the elevator button as the hissing sound become louder and louder and then I see the red button. The same red button that Katri was going to press on that first day.

All of my memories with Katri and Aurelie flood back and without hesitation I press the red button because it's my last chance. Suddenly a loud alarm sets off and the elevator turns eerily dark, the green gas only becoming more and more clear as the first bit enters through the elevator doors.

I back myself as far as I can away from it and take in as many fresh breaths I can before nipping my nose shut and closing my mouth firmly. Soon enough the green gas surrounds me but I keep my airways closed. I make my way out of the elevator, the whole room is in pitch darkness. With my free hand I try to feel for something, anything that might be able to help. I look up to see any sight of a sponser but instead I revert to lying on the floor.

Soon not breathing becomes a struggle and a tickle in my throat causes me to choke. And in that one moment my mouth opens and I feel the gas penetrate the inside of my mouth. The feeling causes me to release the grip on my nose and everything I breathe in is gas. This is the end. My hopes of rebellion were stupid, I was always going to fall when I am battling the Capitol.

I can only hope one day somebody else will battle my cause, but for me, there is no more..

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**A/N: Woah intense chapter, I didn't plan for another death but I guess because of the whole time thing there was. I hope you enjoyed reading as the sixth day in the arena comes to a close.**

**Theo- I loved Theo, he was so rebellious and amazing but at the end of the day he was only ten and it was difficult to keep him still alive when he had lost his allies, but like Sae he went out being all rebellious and stuff. It was quite an evil death as well..**

**And so we're into our final 9. Review please.**


	45. Losing Faith

**Day Seven Part One**

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**Cole Phlox Lindgren's POV (9):**

Today I'm not woken up by the fear of dying in this arena, instead I'm woken up by the parachute that gently lands on my chest. My eyes lock onto it, surprised. This is the first sponsor I've been given in this arena. Maybe now that I've gotten into the top nine I've became more popular. Maybe I became more popular when I slaughtered Lynette, it wasn't like she was the Capitol's favourite or anything. I had to kill her though, she was trying to kill me, what else was I going to do.

Without further thoughts I press the red button on the side of the parachute and it slowly opens to reveal a small box. I pull it out carefully and then pull it open, inside is a small green circle, shaped like a bullet. I examine the object quite confused until I see a small slip of paper attached to the box. I rip it off and pull it open to reveal words. I read over carefully and a small smile appears across my face. It's a stink bomb, but not just any stink bomb. The stench is so wretched that it can make you ill. This is an easy way of getting rid of some competitors, but I only have one stink bomb. I need to put it to good use. I put in back in the box before placing it in my pocket and leaving the room I was in.

Right now I don't have a clue where any of the other tributes are. I also don't know who's in an alliance and who's not, I just know who's still left in the games and there is only one person left in that I can't kill whether my life depends on it or not. Luna. We both come from district nine, I can't go home knowing I've killed an innocent twelve year old from my own district, I just have to hope that someone else has killed her before I'm given the opportunity.

"We remind tributes that floors one to ten are out of bounds. Have a nice day in the hotel."

Once again that stupid voice interrupts my thoughts. I carry on walking down the corridor when I hear a large bang behind me. I quickly turn around to see a metal wall at the bottom of the corridor, the bottom of the wall is blades, they would kill you instantly. It's not long before a second wall falls down, this time the blades penetrate into the floor and send a large crack running through the floor.

Maybe it's not a good idea to just stay standing here. I turn around quickly and begin to sprint down the corridor away from the blades but the bangs become louder and louder and I can tell the metal walls are getting closer and closer. I set my eyes on a wooden door at the bottom of the corridor but it seems miles away. I run and run and the bangs get louder and louder until I feel the gush of the wind as the air is compressed towards me. I dare to look behind me and in that one moment my legs topple over each other and my head hits the floor with a sickening crack. Blood rushes down my face quick enough but I get up and continue running until I'm just metres away from the wooden door and just as I reach out the blade comes down dragging my arm with it.

Blood gushes onto the floor leaving my arm trapped and an absolute mess. I refrain from screaming out and instead try to drag my arm out from underneath the blade. The task seems almost impossible though, how in a matter of minutes have I changed from going to set a stink bomb off to having my arm pretty much torn off by a metal wall. This arena is stupid.

With my free arm I reach for my knife out of my back pocket, maybe the only way out of this is to cut my arm off...

I take no hesitation and in one swift movement I slice the knife into my arm. I scream out in pain as the blade cuts straight through a nerve and for the first time I feel tears beginning to roll down my face. I push the knife further and further in until I feel it hit a bone. This is where I have to be tough. I pull the knife up and strike it down on my bone, the pain is unbearable and the sound is sickening. I feel the vile rising in my throat and within a minute there is sick as well as blood on the floor.

With one more strike I feel my knife tear though the rest of my skin and in a painful pull I detach my arm.

"I need bandages!" I scream to the ceiling, I don't care if another tribute hears me then can't get me anyway when I'm trapped inbetween two metal walls.

"Please! Hurry up, I'm going to die of blood loss!" I scream as loud as I can and after a few minutes the parachute flows down and in it a massive roll of bandages. At first the bandages are useless as the heavy amount of blood just soaks through them but after I wrap about ten bandages around the stump of my arm they begin to stop the constant bleeding.

"Thank you," I say breathing a sigh of relief. Conveniently the walls rise just when I'm okay and I walk out of the room and through the wooden door.

Now I only have one arm I stand pretty much no chance of winning but that doesn't mean it's going to stop me from trying. Now to go let off this stink bomb before the real affects of loosing my arm kick in.

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**Lars Staal's POV (3):**

"Lars, you heard what she said, you need to stop smoking," Jess says angrily snatching the cigarette out of my hand.

"I don't give a fuck what she said. I don't even know why you let her into this alliance," I reply angrily snatching the cigarette back off of her.

"You do realise she was the one that saved your life. If it wasn't for her you'd be dead and buried," she responds. "Seriously Lars, start having some respect for what you've got."

"I don't care if she saved my life, it doesn't mean that I want to be in an alliance with her."

"Look, if you get injured or hurt she's the only one that can save you and she's clearly popular with the Capitol so stop complaining," she says just as I light the end for my cigarette. "Lars for fuck sake just stop it," she carries on snatching the cigarette out of my mouth and throwing it somewhere else in the room.

"Come on man Jess, stop trying to control me all of the time. It isn't any of your business what I do."

"Really because I thought I was meant to be in an alliance with you," she says sounding quite hurt.

"Yeah so did I until you invited her," I reply.

"You know I can hear everything you's are saying, right?" Maisie's stupid voice suddenly butts in.

"Oh fuck off," I say turning away from her.

"You're so ungrateful it's unreal," Maisie says beginning to walk over towards me and Jess. "I and I alone saved your life and you couldn't care less. I joined your alliance so we could get more sponsors as a team, I didn't hold a grudge because you throw my ally to her death or that you's were the ones that set the mine off in the first place and killed my other ally."

"Maisie, I killed your stupid allies because it's the Hunger Games," I say turning to her. Why doesn't she get I never wanted to be in an alliance with her and as much as I don't want to admit it, the only reason she is still alive is because she saved my life.

"Stupid? How would you like it if I called Jess stupid?" she replies.

"I wouldn't care," I mutter, wanting Maisie to hear but not Jess.

"What did you just say?" Jess suddenly says standing up.

"I didn't mean it," I say putting my hand to my face. This is just so annoying, I want to appear tough to Maisie, I want her to be scared of me and I want her to just leave me alone and leave our alliance but it's hard when Jess is here.

"You know what Lars, you're just being a complete dick, come on Maisie, let's go.. just give him some time to calm down," Jess says walking away into the joined room to the one we are in. I choose not to to respond to her words and instead I still perfectly still in my sitting position before finding my cigarette and setting it alight. Maybe I should just set fire to the hotel again...

I can't believe what this arena has done to me. I've killed too many for my liking. I must sit for about half an hour dwelling on my own thoughts when I hear a scream.

"LARS!"

I stand up instantly and dart towards the other room where Maisie comes staggering out coughing madly. I look into to see red smoke emitting from somewhere near the door. Jess lies on the floor coughing madly and the stench is terrible. It's like someone has set off a stink bomb. I grab onto Jess' shoulders and drag her into the other room quickly slamming the door to prevent anymore of the stench coming into the room.

"Jess are you okay?" I ask patting her cheeks.

"I don't feel too well," she says coughing and holding her stomach.

"What happened?" I look to Maisie who is leaning against the wall also holding her stomach.

"Someone through something into the room and Jess went to look at it but it exploded in her face," Maisie says sounding worried.

"Well, can you not help her?" I scream. "You're meant to be the amazing healer that saved my life, now save hers."

"I can't, I don't know how. I've never experienced the symptoms before."

"Some healer you are," I spit at her before turning to Jess. Her eyelids are slowly fading over and she is going as white as a ghost.

"I'll be okay," she mutters dreamily.

"You have to be."

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**A/N: Yeah.. it's all just went a bit mental. So poor Cole loses his arm and then sets off a stink bomb that makes Jess ill. Plus Lars kind of hates Maisie but can't kill her because she saved his life.. and no deaths this chapter.**

**Review please**


	46. Make or Break

**Day Seven Part Two**

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**Steen Klein's POV (5):**

A small beep echoes throughout the room, a sound I have became quite used to since I entered the arena. I look up knowingly to see a silver parachute calmly flowing down towards me. It isn't a surprise when I open it to see a roll of bandages. Since I hurt my foot I've been getting an almost constant supply of these to keep my foot well bandaged. It's at least a signal to myself that I have a lot of sponsors. I take hold of the bandages and peel off the bloody old ones before replacing the new ones around my foot. A bit of blood seeps through at first but the thick material of the bandage keeps it from leaking through. As normal I stand up to test out the bandage and luckily it stays on firm.

This has been my ritual for the past few days now since the games have been quite uneventful and I haven't seen anyone in quite a while. I'm guessing the gamemakers will get bored of me doing practically nothing soon and I'll be lead into some type of battle. After all it is the final nine now, hopefully I should be able to call myself a victor soon. I can't help but wonder whether I'll be proud of that title or not. Victor. In this world it automatically means I killed someone and yes I've already killed two people. The first was Nicky, in all honesty it felt good to rid the games of a career, I actually felt proud that I had killed a fierce competitor but to kill Isabelle was completely different. She didn't ask to come into the games like Nicky did, she was just a normal girl from district 5. Killing her wasn't nice but I had to do it and I'll have to do it again and again if I want to come out of this arena.

The floor groans slightly as I slam my good foot to the floor in fury. Why must I kill to get out of here? It's not fair. Maybe I should hunt, it sounds bad but I want to get out of here as soon as possible and if hunting is the way to do it, I'll have to.

Not before long I'm walking down the thin corridor on floor twenty two. There must be a tribute about here somewhere. I spend the next few hours walking up and down staircases and it isn't until I begin to feel tired I hear a noise. It's a noise that I would expect in the arena, someone is crying. I quieten down my footsteps quickly enough but the crying stops, they must have heard me.

"What's the point in hiding?" it's a boy's voice that speaks. It's basically his way of saying 'come out' but I'm too wary, for all I know he's standing round the corner ready to shoot an arrow through my head. I stay still and try to keep my breathing quiet as he speaks again. "Come on just come out, I know you're there." This time his voice sound angry and agitated.

"I'm not stupid," I reply edging further towards the corner.

"Well you can't be if you've managed to get into the final nine, now who are you?" his voice is a lot more questioning now he knows he's right.

"Steen Klein, district five."

"Collin Etheren, district eight."

"Oh," is all I can manage as a reply. I can't pretend I remember this kid out of the tributes still left but he can't be too bad, after all he has made it into the final nine.

"Come out then," he beckons.

"As I said, I'm not stupid," I reply.

"I'd prefer a fair fight." It's the way he says the word fair that makes me slowly edge around the corner until I see him. I recognize him straight away, his blond hair is now a mess and his eyes are bloodshot red. The boy carries a knife tightly in his right hand but his skinny figure looks unfamiliar with it, it makes me clutch onto my bo staff harder.

"So would I."

"Good," he says calmly before flinging his knife forward unexpectedly. The aim is precise but I see it coming straight away so instead of a wound in my stomach the blade slices into my bicep. I hold back the pain and charge towards him with my staff. He has another knife in his hand quick enough though and quickly slashes it across my elbow, blood falls quickly and already my whole arm seems to be throbbing with pain as well as my injured foot.

I swing the staff rapidly at his retreating thigh but the force doesn't seem to hurt him as he ignores it completely. I step back quickly racking my brain for ideas when I see his face. His eyes are continuously looking towards the cuts in my arm and his knife. He seems to be annoyed and agitated at the fact he has hurt me, maybe that;s the way I can get to him.

I lunge forward smacking the staff into his stomach but he retaliates quickly slashing the bloody knife along my undefended thigh. I scream out in pain and leap back.

"How could you?" I shout.

"I... I... I'm sorry," he says slowly his eyes looking quickly from each of my cuts that he has inflicted. I quickly take my advantage as he drops his knife slowly. My bo staff strikes upwards once again hitting him in the stomach. This time I wind him for sure as he falls onto his back and begins to cough in pain. I take no time in stomping my foot down on his stomach and snatching the knife from his hand.

"I'm really sorry I have to do this, but it is the Hunger Games," I say, closing my eyes and slashing once across his bear neck. The cannon booms before I have ran out the room and soon enough day seven comes to a close and my third kills face appears in the sky. I know I can win this now, I'm in the final eight. I just need to not think about it.

I can do it.

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**A/N: Thank you to the reviewer who pointed out about Steen's foot, hopefully I have sorted it out. And yes we're now down to the final eight.. **

**Collin- I did like Collin, he turned out to be very protective in the end but I think now Sae was gone Collin would fall and we hadn't seen Steen in a while so yeah..**

**Thanks for reading and if you are reading please review. **


	47. Heart Change

**Day Eight Part One**

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**Harabel Lucsley's POV (4):**

"It's time to hunt, young girl," I say pushing the hilt of my sword gently against her sleeping form. The girl stirs slightly before covering her ears. Does she honestly think I'm not going to persist. This time I jab the weapon slightly harder into her back and her eyes are quickly glaring at me.

"Okay, okay, calm down," she retreats backwards picking up her knife and placing it in her belt.

"I think it's quite aware to you that I'm already calm," I reply.

"You know what I meant," she says before muttering something extra to herself. I could persist on finding out what she had to say about me but that could only lead to an argument and I don't want to argue with my ally. It still sounds weird to say that. Ally. Before the games and even before I volunteered I convinced myself I would never have an ally because they are illogical and can only lead to an interpersonal relationship, something I certainly wouldn't want to have in the arena.

Luna is different though. I know she can't win but I know she can assist me in killing off the rest of the tributes. After all she seems quite confident and she says she did kill my district partner, Chris. So far we have not killed anyone, in stead I have analysed this girl, and I now know the real her. She's a daydreamer from district nine, she doesn't deserve what has been given to her but she realises she must put up with it. She is determined to win as much as me, and she wants to make an impression. I have to say the young twelve year old has grown on me. But I can't let her become my 'friend', after all that would be illogical.

"Which way d'you want to go?" Luna asks pointing down each way of the corridor.

"Left."

"And who do you expect to find?" she asks as we begin to walk down the left corridor.

"Well, since there is eight tributes left the likelihood is we will see atleast one of the other six tributes if we search the next five floors seeing as the gamemakers limited us to a certain amount of floors."

"That's true."

"I wouldn't lie," I reply with a small smile on my face. I think Luna has become used to my comments by now, it's odd, she is the first person that has actually put up with me in a long time. "It would be illogical," I add on.

"Of course it would," she replies a small smile gracing her young face. Her words signal the end of our small conversation, as we pass through the door leading us to the main staircase. I try to keep my feet quiet as we walk up the stairs and into the first floor. As always we come to the lobby on this floor, the room seems untouched, the cushions placed neatly on the seats, the carpets unruffled. I would presume a tribute had not done so much as touch this floor if it wasn't for the obvious clue towards the corridor.

"Come on, let's go up," Luna says turning around.

"Don't be so illogical Luna, can you not see that mark over there," I say shifting my sword in the direction of the blood stain on the cream carpets. Her eyes lighten up in shock and like a dog with a trace she begins to run down the corridor, I think she might have heard something.

"Luna they can't get away, don't waste your energy in running," I shout calmly down the corridor and I hear her footsteps quieten. It's not long before I am right behind her and we are heading further down the corridor. "I assume you know precisely where the sound came from."

"The bottom. I'm sure," she says, no hesitation in her voice, she is clearly trying to impress. It's working.

I choose not to reply to her this time and instead draw my small knife from my pocket. As we get closer and closer to the door I flick my wrist gently and as the knife embeds itself in the wooden frame a small shriek comes from inside and then a tumbling sound. Whoever this tribute is doesn't stand a chance against me.

My foot hits strong against the door and it swings open slightly. With one extra push it falls quickly open and shockingly enough a bucket falls on top of me. Within it slime of some sort. Does this child think their funny? Playing prankster is just illogical, where is that going to get you in the arena. I hear Luna's shocked expression and a small giggle from somewhere in the room. I step further forward and suddenly my foot catches onto something. I feel a short tug and soon the lights flicker on and a bag of flour slams into me, covering me in head to toe.

"Immature bastard."

"Now now, no need to swear," a boy's voice replies and my eyes divert to the boy from district nine, surprisingly enough he only has one arm, and he's weaponless.

"Do you think you're funny?" I spit at him. "Because you're just illogical and irrelevant in this arena." I draw my sword and try to move but my foot is firmly stuck with some glue on the floor and a tough rope is locked around my ankle.

"I'd hardly say that I'm irrelevant, after all I have made it into the top eight."

"Well you're not going to make it into the final seven," I hear Luna suddenly say she appears from the shadows her eyes watching all of the different traps that cover the floor. How much effort has this stupid kid went to, just for a joke? He is the definition of illogical.

She flings her only knife forward and somehow it lodges itself into his side. The shock on his face is laughable as he falls to the floor surrounded by his own traps. She looks quite disgusted in herself all the same but she knows she has to do this.

"You're twelve," he splutters holding his wound as blood pours to the floor quickly.

"I've been put in this arena all the same," she says hopping herself over to me and untying the rope around my ankle. With some amount of effort I rip my shoe from the floor and carefully make my way over to Cole.

"Please just leave me," he says as I advance towards him. "Luna please, you're meant to be my district partner."

"Look Cole, only one of us can come out, whether you're from my district partner or not," and with that Luna exits the room leaving me alone with him.

"Luna," he chokes out before diverting his eyes to me.

"I'm going to ask you one question before I kill you Cole, because to leave you living for much longer would be cruel and illogical."

"Go ahead," he mutters.

"Why set all of the pranks up, what does that do?" I ask edging closer and holding my sword over his stomach.

"It's fun, why should I let the Capitol ruin my fun by sending me in the arena," he replies.

"I understand," I mutter. "Maybe you're not too illogical after all, but for now it's time for you to go."

His eyes stare deeply into mine as the sword slices into his stomach. I exit the room without looking back, I can't look back on the decisions I've made. It's all too late.

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**A/N: Yay, I managed to update quickly but someone died and are we seeing a change in heart in Harabel.. ever so slightly...**

**Cole- I really liked Cole and he was definitely a contender and I liked his reasoning for not wanting the Capitol to ruin his fun. But yeah he had one arm and he was stabbed and he was against Harabel... **

**Thanks for reading, please review.**


	48. Fighting Fire with Fire

**Day Eight, Part Two**

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**Maisie Dox's POV (12):**

"Was that another cannon?" Jess asks leaning up and rubbing her bloodshot her eyes. She looks even worse than when she went to sleep. It seems rest didn't do her any good, and I have a feeling that nothing will. Lars has asked me many a time to help her but I know I can't, her symptoms are all messed up, nothing seems to link together. Whatever was in that stinkbomb was lethal.

"Yes, just another step closer to home," Lars mutters and I see his eyes look towards me. I can't help but feel uncomfortable around him, I saved his life but I'm pretty sure in a few deaths time he won't care and the fact that I can't help Jessica isn't helping.

"Maybe they'll let two people win," Jessica says forcing a smile and then she sees me, "or even three."

"Yeah keep wishing," I mutter.

"Don't speak to her like that, she's just trying to be positive," Lars says suddenly defensive.

"Hypocrite."

"What did you say?" he replies.

"Well it's not like you never.. oh it doesn't matter, I can't be bothered," I say yawning at the end of my sentence.

"Lars stop being so harsh," Jessica suddenly croaks tiredly.

"Jessica just rest your voice, in fact just rest all together, you need to get better," he says walking over to her and checking for her temperature. "Oh come on Maisie, you're meant to be healer, can you not do anything for her?"

"I've already said, her symptoms are too confusing, they don't make sense and I have no way of fixing all of them. I recommend she rests and refrains from talking."

"Is that it?" He replies angrily.

"Well what else do you want me to say? It's not like my words are magic you know."

"I didn't say they were, I just think you should try and help her a bit more. After all we're the only reason you're getting food," he shouts back at me.

"Well how do you think I was getting food before now? I did get sponsors, you know," I retaliate.

"I doubt that, after all you're from district twelve," he shouts but fades off as he mentions my district.

"Don't bring my district into this, I'm doing just as well as you aren't I, a number doesn't determine how you do." Why is he so stupid? He thinks he's so much higher than me just because he's from district 3 and I happen to come from district 12.

"Well it does, why do you think most of the lower districts are already out."

"Because idiots from the higher district's think it's right to train to kill," I shout.

"Don't pin that on me, I'm not from 1, 2 or 4."

"Just stop it!" Jess suddenly screams her voice breaks out and then she screams out in agony of the pain she is probably in. Lars is rushing over to her in an instant, he checks her temperature and I don't manage to hear the soothing words he whispers to her but I do hear my name a few times.

"Look Maisie just do what you can with her, I'm going for a tab," he says walking out the room and entering the other room. Of course, he would need a cigarette after a heated row, in fact he probably just wants to stare at the fire to make himself feel a little better. None the less I slowly make my way over to Jess and kneel my her side. Her eyes quickly flutter open.

"Hey Maisie," she croaks.

"Don't speak, it will only pain you," I whisper holding my finger to her lip.

"It doesn't make much of a difference compared to the pain I'm already in," she says a weak smile gracing her face.

"I'm sorry I can't help you," I say gripping onto her frail hand and shaking it slightly. "There's just not much I can do, and your condition is deteriorating quickly..."

"How long do I have?" she asks.

"A few days, but you'll be in pain the whole time. It's not fair."

"I don't want to be in pain," she says weakly letting go of my hand.

"I'm sorry, I'd do anything to help you," I say a small tear coming to my eye at the thought of not being able to help.

"Then will you do me one last favour?"

"Anything," I say gripping back onto her hand.

"Pass me that knife," her eyes divert to the knife lying on the floor near the rest of the supplies.

"W-why?" I stutter, fearing the worse.

"Don't question," she pauses to breath, "you said you'd do anything." The way she says it makes me feel so guilty, I lean back onto my knees and slowly edge towards the knife. The blade cuts me slightly as I clumsily pick it up and face her again.

"Promise you won't do anything stupid?" I whisper turning my head towards the room Lars is in.

"I can't promise that," she croaks holding her hand out.

"Okay," is all I can say as I gently place the knife in her hands. She stares at the long, serrated blade for a few seconds before positioning it above her heart, the blade pointed downwards.

"Tell Lars I love him," she says closing her eyes.

"Please don't do this," I squeak.

"Thanks for your help Maisie, hopefully one of you can win," she says completely ignoring my statement.

"Please."

"I'm sorry," she whispers before the blade cuts through her thin layer of skin and her blood pours everywhere. She does well not to scream as the knife digs further into her throat and her hands drop to the side loosely, the knife buried deeply in her heart.

The cannon echoes quickly and before I know it Lars is in the room. His eyes divert from me to the knife and I can just tell this isn't going to go smoothly.

"It's what she wanted," I scream running towards Jess' body and lifting the knife out.

"So you fucking killed her, you sick minded bastard," he says running towards the supplies and grabbing his own knife.

"She killed herself," I scream backing away.

"Don't lie to me, you've been planning this the whole time, well don't think you're going to kill me."

"Please, I've never killed anyone in this arena, and I don't plan to," I say holding out the knife, hoping against hope he decides to spare my life. But he won't, he thinks I killed her and I have no way of proving to him that I didn't. Maybe I'll have to fight, maybe it's the only way.

"You're sick.

He pauses in his tracks and suddenly I begin to run. I dart out of the room and down the corridor, I hear his steady footsteps behind me the whole time and it continues that way until I feel the knife sink into my leg. I fall quickly, my nose bashes against the floor and blood rises. The crimson coloured liquid changes the cream carpets to red and I only have time to turn around before Lars lunges on top of me and lifts the knife out of my leg.

"How dare you kill her," he says shaking his head.

"I didn't," I try.

"Enough with the lies," he says placing the knife against my neck which causes me to stop squirming. Blood dips down onto my skin and the cool blade presses further. I close my eyes hoping my death is quick but then I hear the softest click ever and my eyes flicker open to the sight of the flame.

"Please, no," I say raising my hand but he quickly lashes the flame towards it.

"Regretting it now, aren't you?" he says holding the flame next to my lips.

"I'm regretting not stopping her, why don't you see, she buried that knife into her own chest. She said she loved you," I beg.

"Trying to hit a soft spot there, you manipulative bastard."

"I'm not trying to hit any soft spot, I'm telling the.." he shuts me up as the flame pierces my lips and I scream out in agony. The heat is terrifying and I hit my fist against his side causing him to press the flame down harder, then he stops. He raises the lighter and then places it gently in my hair.

"Isn't it beautiful?" he says staring at my hair, it must be catching fire.

"If you were human, you'd stop."

"Oh but I'm not human am I, I've been put into the Hunger Games, how can I ever be human again," and with that he clicks shut the lighter, seemingly satisfied by my cindered hair. Instead he grips the knife again and looks into my eyes. His own flare up and he leans closer until his lips are just millimetres away from my ear.

"You saved my life, but I guess I could never return the favour," he says and then the knife buries into my throat.

"She wants you to win," is all I can gasp before a bright light appears and my eyes flicker shut.

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**A/N: And another two fall... that was quite a dramatic chapter.. I think you guys will be happy to know I have planned out the rest of the games and there will be four chapters left (unless I change it), with only five tributes left.**

**Jess- I really liked her and once again she was a contender for the winner but she was put into a situation that I could really make a storyline out of and so her death had to come. She has been one of my favourite characters to write though, sorry.**

**Maisie- She was cool, I liked how she was a healer and from the beginning I planned for her to go far. She was another contender but she was from district twelve and I had a storyline here for her, hopefully it was fitting, sorry.**

**So final five... review please!**


	49. Opportunities

**Day Nine Part One**

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**Steen Klein's POV (5):**

They'll celebrate when I win. They'll cheer for a killer, in the past killing was wrong. Anyone found to have killed someone would be locked up in jail instantly, before the games came back no-one would talk about them but then they arrived again and with them a cruel twist. A twist that has seen, so far, twenty nine innocent children brutally murdered on live television. I don't even want to think about how many of those kills were committed by me, a supposedly innocent district five tribute.

I was innocent, but no longer. I have been shoved into a game where the only way out is to kill.. and that's what I did and it is also what I must do to the rest of the competitors if I want to leave here with my heart still beating. I now know who I'm up against and I know it's a hard task, hopefully one I can take on.

Firstly there's the girl from district four, Harabel. I can't remember much from her other than her impressive score of eleven before the games had began. From there she was proven to be fierce and deadly, a difficult competitor. Other than that I saw her running away after she killed the boy from eleven, Harence. She killed him without struggle and I doubt she will struggle to kill the rest of us.

Then there's her district partner, Kai. He was ruthless in training and he proved himself as the head of the career pack and he was clearly the best as he is the last one standing. He's another one that won't hesitate in killing me although I expect he is the type that will drag out each individual kill and make his opponent suffer. I can only hope I don't have to face him.

Them two are probably my fiercest competitors as they originate from a career district but there's also the boy from district three, Lars and the girl from district nine, Luna. The two of them never stood out to me, they just faded into the background like most of the tributes but now we're into the final five. They must be quite good to be still in the competition, they must be hiding something. The girl is only twelve year old for goodness sake, how is she still alive? I hope to myself I can rule her out but that would be silly and it will come back to get me if she's the one to shove a knife through my heart.

"Congratulations to the final five!" the 'hotel manager's' voice suddenly booms through the speakers making me forget my current thoughts.

"What do you want?" I mutter.

"We would like to say well done for getting thus far into the games. You have all done extremely well and have done your district's proud, but of course only one of you can win. And the one of you that does win will get a reward for your district," he pauses for dramatic effect.

"That reward will be immunity from next year's reapings," he bellows. "So do your district proud and gain them immunity, as always have a nice stay," and with that his voice cuts out.

I don't know what to think of this 'reward', maybe my district would forget about the fact I killed my district partner, maybe they would forgive and forget. After all I would save two of our children from there prominent death. All I have to do is win.

I wonder what the districts think of this reward? District 3 and 9 will probably be over the moon and they'll be willing on Lars and Luna even more but district 4 won't be happy. They train for these games and they're going to lose a chance of winning the games next year.. anyway that doesn't matter because I'm going to win.

"Luna," I hear the district 9 girl's name softly called by another female voice. It must be Harabel, but why would she be with Luna? I can't be hearing things. I stand up slowly and make my way across the room I'm in and into the open corridor. I dare stick my head out ever so slightly and see Harabel heading one way with Luna just behind her, what an odd alliance.

"I told you to hurry, didn't I?" Harabel suddenly shouts without looking behind her which causes Luna to rush forward a few steps.

"But where are we going?" she says sweetly. "Wouldn't it be logical to stay in the same place, the gamemakers will choose the finale when they want it, right?" Harabel suddenly turns around and I quickly duck back into my room, missing whatever she had to say. When I hear the muffled voices stop speaking I step into the corridor gently and begin to follow the two of them. I've taught myself to make my footsteps a lot quieter now so hopefully Harabel and Luna won't expect anything.

Unexpectedly they suddenly turn off at the lobby and begin to make their way to the main staircase, it will be harder to keep my footsteps quiet on metal stairs. I take my opportunity quickly and sprint forward. Soon enough I have my hand wrapped around Luna's mouth, this works at first as her screams are muffled but her teeth soon sink into my flesh causing me to remove my hand and she delivers a quick punch to my jaw and releases a quick scream.

"Harabel!"

"Shut up," I say hitting her in the side with the bo staff which clearly winds her.

"Get away from me," she screams beginning to make her way onto her feet as Harabel turns around and begins to sprint towards the two of us.

"Well this worked amazingly well," I mutter to myself before beginning to run away myself. It seems that Luna is a lot more capable than I thought she would have been. I try not to think about my stupidity any more as I quickly make my way back into the corridor. I turn left quickly but Harabel seems to expect this and I hear her panting getting closer and closer until I feel her hand wrap around my ankle. I swing around quickly connecting my foot with her face which makes blood come to her nose quickly.

I back away, slowly looking between Harabel lying angrily on the floor and Luna looking scared in the background. I take one last look before sprinting behind me into the darkness of the corridor ahead.

"Don't worry five, I'll get you in the finale, you just wait," I hear her cursing voice.

"See you there," is all I can muster before turning the corner, hopefully I'll never have to see her again...

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**A/N: No deaths this chapter.. it was a bit of a filler just to show how Steen is feeling before it all starts to properly kick off soon. And they've made a bit of a rivalry. Plus check out the twist... and expect another twist which next chapter will revolve around.**

**Sorry for the not very action filled chapter but there is now only three more games chapters, I think.**

**Also thanks for the few people that have stayed for this story until now and if you haven't been reviewing but you are reading please drop just a small review.**


	50. The Key of Destruction

**Day Nine Part Two**

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**Kai Brookshore's POV (4):**

"Hello again tributes," the voice suddenly interrupts me and I place my sandwich that I received off sponsors back on the floor. "As you know there is five of you left, today we have already told you about your reward for winning but first you must beat off the rest of your competitors. As a challenge we have placed your mentors in a holding cell, free them with the key you are being provided or they will fall to the same fate twenty nine of our guests have so far. Your mentors are being held on floor thirty, we expect you to accept our challenge. Thank you."

Just seconds after the announcement a small key appears in front of me and I grasp onto it quickly. Dad was my mentor, my amazing Dad who encouraged me to volunteer since I was just a little kid and now he is being held in a cell in the hotel. It's non-debatable, I'm freeing him and I'm going to give him a live performance of what I've been doing in this arena.

"I'm coming for you Dad," I kiss the sparkling key once before holding it up to the air and walking calmly towards the metal staircase. I'm currently situated on floor twenty seven so it shouldn't be a long journey for me, in fact I'm probably closer than any of the other tributes. I wonder who the other tributes mentors are, Harabel decided not to choose a mentor which for a supposedly clever girl was a really stupid thing to do. I can remember that boy from district five picking the strongest man in his district so he probably won't even bother going to save him if it means his death. I've not a clue who the girl from nine chose and neither do I for the boy from three but I have a feeling that both of them will be turning up.

Not until I'm on floor twenty nine do I here some other people's footsteps other than my own, they echo from quite a few doors down.

I'm soon pushing open a door that has clearly been attacked by an axe or something in the past and behind it I see the back of five holding cells.

"Luna," an older man's voice suddenly calls desperately.

"I'm afraid not," I whisper evilly.

"Kai," my Dad's voice shouts happily. I take no time in running around to the front of the holding cell, I quickly look towards my Dad and hold out the key in front of me, not paying attention to any of the other people that are there although I notice one of them is empty (obviously Harabel's).

"Have I done you proud?" I say walking further forward and staring at his expression.

"I'd be even prouder if you were to win," he says completely ignoring my question.

"Don't you dare touch my daughter," the same voice shouts that said Luna when I walked in. My eyes divert to a man looking very upset but also angry.

"Oh, hello Mr. Rose, didn't see you there," I say walking over to him casually. "Don't worry you'll be long gone when I kill your daughter."

"You wouldn't dare," he says gripping onto the bars he's enclosed in.

"Oh, but I would," I say suddenly slicing one of my knives across his fingers. He draws back instantly calling out in pain.

"Now, now, play nicely Kai," my Dad says.

"Sorry Dad, just got a bit distracted there," I say giving Mr. Rose one last look before turning around and walking past another empty holding cell. "Why is there two cells that are empty?" I say angrily, scanning the cells, there is only my Dad, Mr. Rose and that really strong man that the district five boy picked.

"That boy from three has already been," my Dad says. "He was a right cocky little shit, he released her instantly and she was escorted out of here."

"Well, I guess I'll be killing Luna today then, since I don't expect Steen to be turning up" I say staring back towards Mr. Rose.

"And why would you expect that?" a voice that is neither my Dad's or Mr. Rose's speaks up. I walk towards the cell that contains the strong man from district five. I press myself up against the bar and look into the man's eyes and then his muscles. If he had of had the chance to be tribute he could of won easily.

"Because you're not his family, you're just another man from his district, he'd leave you to die anyday," I whisper cockily, I don't expect him to lunge forward and grip onto my shirt. He flings me back instantly and I land in a clump on the floor.

"If I really wanted to I could rip these iron bars apart and run havoc in this hotel, but that would only lead to my death," he says his voice certain but angry. He backs away into the darkness of his cell and I don't have time to pick up my dropped key before Harabel and Luna burst into the room.. seemingly allies.

"Luna!" Mr. Rose suddenly shouts.

"Daddy!" she responds but I quickly get back onto my feet and draw my sword. I stand in front of Mr. Rose's cell.

"I think you better keep quiet, Luna," I say stepping forward my sword held high now.

"Do us all a favour and shut up, Kai," Harabel's voice grinds on me more than I remember.

"Don't take that son," I hear my Dad's voice in my ear.

"Fuck off Harabel."

"What and leave you in here by yourself, to free your beloved father, I don't think so," she reacts sarcastically.

"Why are you even here? It's not as if you have anyone to free," I say wavering my free hand towards the empty cell.

"I know I don't, because as I said at the reaping, mentors are illogical but I have found that an ally can prove useful in the arena and I am here to help my ally."

"Harabel Lucsley, I remember you as the confident girl from the reaping, the one that got a score of eleven in training and your telling me you stooped so low to ally with a twelve year old from nine, please tell me, what happened?" I say clutching onto my heart and I hear my Dad snigger in the background causing me to look to the floor for his key.

"Yes," Luna suddenly shouts looking to the floor and gripping onto my Dad's key. I lunge forward quickly just missing out on striking her with the sword as Harabel pulls her backwards.

"Stay away from my daughter," Mr. Rose suddenly shouts which causes me to get even angry. I lunge forward at Harabel who takes no time in grabbing hold of my shoulders and hoisting me to the side of the room, in this time Luna runs forward and quickly frees her father who wishes her luck before disappearing, freed from this arena.

"Wait for me outside Luna, you don't want to see this," Harabel struggles to spit out as she holds me against the floor.

"Of course she wouldn't want to see her ally get killed, would she?" I say pushing Harabel off me and slicing the sword across her arm without hesitation. The cut is miniscule though and she reacts quickly stabbing the long knife towards my heart. It rebounds off of my sword and she runs backwards until she is just in front of the cell Mr. Rose was being held in.

"Take control," my Dad shouts just like he used to when I trained. "Treat her like the dirt she is."

"Who are you calling dirt," she responds lunging towards me and slicing angrily at my face. The blade cuts right through my nose but I ignore the pain as blood rushes down my face.

"Come on Kai," My dad shouts suddenly the first sign of worry in his voice, does he not think I can win this?

"I'm trying!" I scream slicing my sword towards her again but my attention is elsewhere and my mind is concentrating too much on my father, the sword misses her completely and in the heat of the moment it flies out of my hand and skids towards the cell which holds the district five man.

"Trying clearly isn't good enough," he shouts the worry much more evident.

"Clearly not," Harabel shouts suddenly pushing me to the floor and jumping on top of me. I have no time to react and her knife presses against my neck.

"How?" I mutter, trying to kick my legs but she pins them down along with one of my arms, while the other is trapped underneath my back. How could this have happened? All of the training, all of the confidence has all amounted to this, death by Harabel Lucsley.. my ultimate opponent.

"Because I'm better than you, and I always will be," she says pressing the knife even further into my neck. "Any last words for your son?" she adds on looking towards my Dad.

"I can only express my disappointment Kai, you've failed me." Those are the last words I hear before the knife cuts through me neck and only four tributes are left in the arena.

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**A/N: That was a very fast update for me but I had the idea and I really wanted to write it down and then this happened. Hopefully an action packed and exciting chapter.**

**Kai- He was never going to win, I admit but he was always going to go far and his death was always going to be at the hands of Harabel. I liked him from day one, he was a career I felt I could use and he really developed as a character. He was also the last career standing. I brought his dad into it at the end though to show how his dad pressurized him and how this was kind of his downfall... well he was a great character.**

**Also, his dad died because he wasn't freed and so did Steen's mentor the really strong man, because Steen didn't show up..**

**Thanks for reading, hopefully you liked the twist. Please review!**


	51. The Beginning of the End

**Day Ten Part One**

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**Lars Staal's POV (3):**

_'Go to the top floor. Get onto the roof. Use the matches. Win.'_

The words are clear, the words my sister spoke to me as I released her from her cell yesterday and now as the sponsor floats to my feet I grasp the box of twenty four matches in my hand, I kiss them gently and stand up - this is it, this is where I start the finale. And I'm starting it with fire.

I've already used my beloved fire once in this dreaded arena and now I'm going to use it again only this time I'm going to make sure it ends the lives of all three of the other tributes. I'll watch as they go up in flames and I'll listen as the speakers announce my victory. I'll be known for my unique technique, Lars Staal, district three, winner of the 76th Hunger Games, as the games have progressed that statement has began to sound more and more likely.

I place the pockets in my pocket along with my lighter and a small smile graces my face. It's time. It isn't a long trip to floor thirty, where I released my sister from her cell yesterday since I camped down in the lobby on floor twenty nine. I'm soon climbing the now familiar metal staircase, my hand glides along the wooden rail and then it stops, now to start the first part of my plan and of course it involves setting fire to the hand rail. Within a matter of seconds I have a match lit and as I hold it calmly against the hand rail it slowly catches fire and then the beauty takes over as it spreads and spreads. I watch it as it catches more and more further and further down the stairs until not only the hand rail begins to catch fire but other things as well.

I resist from watching any longer as I turn my back on the scene and walk through the door onto floor thirty. I hear a firm alarm go off behind me but I don't turn I just make my way into the room and look at the five holding cell still in place. I'm very tall so it doesn't take much to grip onto the top of the cells and drag myself on top. I graze my knee on the edge but it doesn't matter because my plan is working and I can just tell my beloved fire is setting alight this hotel for real.

My eyes divert upwards the roof, and the trapdoor that my own sister noticed, she's the one who has helped me with this plan. As my mentor she analysed the arena and through careful inspection she has found out what's on the roof and she knows what I can do with it. And so I reach my hand upwards and pull on the loose cord, as simple as that. It's almost as if the gamemakers wanted us to get onto the roof.

"Emergency!" the hotel manager's voice suddenly calls over the speakers and the fire alarms stop for just a second. "All tributes make their way out of the roof exit on floor thirty as soon as possible. Emergency procedure." The voice calls this again and again as the ladder falls down in front of me and one step at a time I make my way up to the roof.

The fresh air feels amazing as I step onto the concrete ground and hold my hands up to the sky, but it isn't the normal sky.. it's just light. Like an enormous sun, a massive fireball in the sky. I try not to look as the light is slightly blinding and in stead I make my way over to the edge of the building. The railing is about a metre high, and you can fall off it easily but the only thing I care about is that it's made of wood and by now everyone in this arena knows what wood will do.

Burn.

So that's what I do, I take the match and strike it again, it takes me a few before the railing properly catches fire but it soon spread around until I am completely surrounded by orange, yellow and red flames that bounce up and down flickering in the blinding sunlight. For I don't know how long I stand and stare at the flames around me, admiring their beauty and the way they sound wavering smoke into the air until I hear something over than the flames and my eyes divert to the entrance to the roof. I don't see anything at first, I just hear gasping and panting and then I see a staff and the boy from district five emerges. He doesn't see me at first, in stead he notices the flames.

His eyes open wide in fear and from here I already know that I have the advantage.

"Welcome to the finale!" I say not hesitating in drawing one of my knives from my belt.

"There's four tributes left, not two," he says walking around nervously. He's trapped. He doesn't want to go near me and he doesn't want to go near the fire. I can only see one winner here.

"I admire your observation skills," I say sarcastically, "but soon the other two will arrive, but don't worry you'll be long gone by then." I shock him as my knife flicks out of my wrist and just skims past him to the right causing him to back away even further.

"Did you do this?" he says his eyes looking around the glorious battlefield.

"Well, of course."

"But w.."

"Because it's beautiful and I want to be known for my victory," I stop him from finishing his question.

"You'd be known for your victory either way," he retaliates quite angry. "There's no need to set the arena on fire, you almost killed me down there."

"Well, that is the point of the Hunger Games, right?"

His mouth purses, he clearly tries to think of a comeback but fails.

"Anyway enough with this conversation, time to fight," I say and with that I draw another knife from my belt. "Where's your weapon?"

"This is it," he says, proudly slamming his staff on the ground.

"Pathetic," I say sprinting towards him and not hesitating in slashing my knife across his stomach. It only slightly clips him though and he strikes me with the staff in the head. I fall to the ground easily, that thing weighs a lot more than you'd think.

"Not so pathetic now, is it?" he says slamming it into my stomach and instantly winding me. I rebound onto my feet and retreat towards the burning flames, let's see how confident he is near the fire.

"Don't get sarcastic with me, now when your death is near," I say as he slowly walks towards me. He hesitates before slamming the staff on my foot and jumping towards me, he loses his balance quickly and I push him slightly so that he falls to the ground. His staff rolls to the side slightly and he tries to reach it but I slam the knife into his arm sending it the floor. His facial expression turns to pure agony and I can't help but feel sorry for him. I'm going to kill him now, it's not fair on him.

His eyes remain shut as I pick up his body and throw into the flames. The flames eat away at his burning corpse and I watch in delight as the flames grow higher and higher. It's not the death that is exciting me, I'm not sick, it's just the fact he's going up in flames... the oh so beautiful flames.

"Death by fire, how irrelevant when a simple stab to the heart could so the same trick."

I quickly turn around to see Harabel Lucsley staring at me, a long knife in her hand and the girl from 9, Luna stands next to her with a smaller knife.

BOOM.

Two on one some might say, not when I have my fire to assist me.

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**A/N: And then there was three... next chapter is the finale guys, hopefully you liked this chapter. So yes the notorious fire is back to make one last appearance.**

**Steen- Steen was quite a normal character but from the start there was certain aspects about him that stood out to me like his bo staff for example. And overall I just enjoyed writing from his point of view, I liked developing him as a character and it's a shame to see him go but I didn't want to him win.**

**So last three..**

**Review please and tell me within your review who you want to win and who you would like to win... Luna, Lars or Harabel.**


	52. End Game

**Day Ten Part Two (The Finale)**

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**Harabel Lucsley's POV (4):**

I feel Luna's soft skin brush against mine as I take one step closer to Lars and his beloved fire. He draws a knife out of his belt and a small grimace appears on his face, this arena has certainly changed him.

"Luna, just stay there, I'll be back," my voice is just above a whisper as I take another step closer to Lars. "And if I'm not, win for me," this bit I say as quietly as I can and once the words leave my lips I regret saying them instantly.

"I will," she says softly, I don't take another look at her, I just take steps forward one at a time until I am standing just ten metres away from the district 3 boy. His belt contains two more knives whilst this is my only weapon, I have lost all others I have gained in the arena. This is the one I have kept from the start, the one that has individually wiped out four, five, six tributes? I can't even remember now. These ten days have went slow and so it is difficult to tell what events have played out.

"What's up with the fire?" I ask.

"Shut up, I want to fight," and with that he suddenly lunges at me I grip onto his wrist casually as it almost plummets into my stomach and I push him backwards.

"I asked you a question, I expect you to answer it," I say watching as he scrambles back onto his feet.

"Fine," he says his eyebrows furrowing in anger, "fire is beautiful, it's the source of life, it makes me happy. That good enough for you?"

"I suppose, I just don't get you, you're quite illogical."

"And how would that be?" he suddenly raises his knife.

"You're tall, you're strong, you can clearly use that weapon. You could kill without the fire, yet you go to the trouble of using it. As I said, illogical," I say still only gripping onto my knife that little bit tighter.

"Why would I care for your opinion anyway? You're just a bitch from district 4, you're useless."

"Can't be that useless if I've made it into the final three, can I?"

"Well since a twelve year old from district nine has made into the final three it can't be that hard can it?" he snares.

"Go on, continue to underestimate her, we'll see where that gets you-" I'm suddenly cut off as he lunges forward again, in stead of trying to stab me he just bundles his large weight on top of me so that I am crushed beneath him. I dig my knife slightly into his back causing him to jump up and I take the opportunity to slam my foot into his side. He groans in pain as I jump back onto my feet and slice across his calf. Blood sprays to the floor creating a small pool but he doesn't give up. In stead he's back on his feet within seconds a small smile on his face as I realise I have edged closer to the fire.

"You do realise fire can kill you as well, right?" I ask.

"Fire's my friend, why would it do that?"

"You're deluded, wrong in the head. Illogical."

"Ha, you think you're so clever with all these terms, don't you. You're so confident, your wall is so high you don't think anyone can knock it down. Well just you wait," he laughs at the end before twirling round and throwing his knife angrily. I don't realise at first what is happening until I hear her scream, a piercing scream. One that signals her death.

"What," I shout. It's all I can say I run forward pushing Lars over in my way and I'm soon crouching next to her making sure to keep an eye on Lars the whole time.

"Harabel," she whispers but I quickly put my finger to her lip. It doesn't take me long to find the knife lodged harshly in her neck. It won't be long now. She tries to breathe but she can't and her eyes look around terrified, beginning to gloss over.

"Don't cry. I'll win," I pause knowing I'm about to say something I'll regret. "for you."

"Don't be so illogical," she gasps followed by a short giggle and then a cannon boom. That's it. She's gone. Now I have to win, for me and her. I stand up onto my feet and look at my final competitor. I'm down to the final two now, no turning back, that would be illogical anyway. I've made it this far, to not win would be ridiculous, it's an impossibility.

"I guess this is it," he mutters casually drawing yet another knife from his belt.

"You're going to die knowing you killed an innocent twelve year old girl," I say completely ignoring his previous statement.

"I must pull out all stops if I want to win. I had to break your wall, and by the expression on your face, I think I have," he says this with the utmost confidence.

"You haven't broke my wall, don't be so stupid. All you've done is make me want to drive this knife through your heart that little bit more. So don't for one second think you've killed two birds with one stone."

"Okay." His response almost comes across as patronising but I'm not scared by him and his fire. I'm not scared by anything, how can I be? I wouldn't have entered the Hunger Games if for one second I thought I was going to be scared, that would be illogical.

I suddenly feel something wet soak through the skin on my shoe and I look down to see Luna's blood creating a small puddle around my foot. I quickly remove it and stare down at the girl's dead body. Maybe I should have killed her days ago in stead of giving her hope that she could survive in the end. Out of everybody that has entered this arena, she didn't deserve this. Death has came too soon for the dreamy girl, she was only twelve. And for that I must avenge her death.

My feet clatter off the floor angrily as I dart towards Lars but just as I reach him he pushes his knife forward and I flip to the side narrowly missing the blade of the knife. He reacts quickly picking up my startled form and throwing me backwards towards the fire. He quickly closes in on me afterwards so I'm closer to the fire and step by step he forces me further and further back until I can feel the heat making the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

He suddenly lunges but I duck quickly, scrambling under his legs and tripping him over in the process. I take advantage of the situation and leap towards him, once again slashing his leg but the boy seems unfased by my actions. He's probably experienced quite a few fights in his time in the arena, by now.

The only sound I now hear is our panting breaths as a small dual starts. It goes on for a while as we repeatedly slice and stab our knives towards one another, occasionally managing to draw blood. This goes on for some time until he suddenly catches my thigh deeply and I scream out in pain.

"Bastard!" I screech.

He doesn't respond though in stead he throws the knife towards me and it embeds itself just below my hip. The throw wasn't too strong but it has managed to work it's way into my skin, the pain is quite unbearable. I pull the knife out, in agony and send it flying back his way. Luckily, it also lands in his skin. He screams out in pain as it lands just above his ankle and blood quickly pools onto the floor, it flows in the cracks of the concrete floor until it disappears into the fire.

"I'll kill you," he mutters under his breath just loud enough for me to hear. For the first time he seems weak and I relax slightly, so I obviously get quite a shock when he lunges towards me. I'm not quick enough to react this time and he picks me up without hesitation and flings me into the burning flames. I feel myself being engulfed as all colour apart from yellow and orange drains from my vision. I crawl on my hands and knees furiously until I come out of the fire and I'm met face to face with Lars.

I grip onto his neck quickly and drag him back into the fire with me. The pain is unbearable but I need to do this. I drag him through it all still holding onto his neck. His fists lash out at my stomach and then suddenly we both fall in a pile on the other side of the fire. He shocks me once again as he pushes me to one side and I feel gravity begin to drag me down.

We're on the edge of the roof.

My fingertips grip on just in time and I drag myself back onto the roof. He looks startled to see me still here and we both go to grab each other at the same time, we end up scrabbling around on the edge of the building and so we both hold each other in a death lock.

One push and it's over.

But he's holding me too, he could easily drag me down with him and there would be no victor. Maybe these exact thoughts are running through his brain as well. I suddenly feel a slight tug and we both edge further off the roof so that my head and one of my arms hangs over.

I take this moment to stare into his eyes but I don't see his eyes, I see the knife lying just behind him. My fingers crawl ever closer to the knife until they lock around it.

"You did well Lars," is all I can say. The shock is evident in his eyes as I suddenly slash the knife across the skin of his arms. He let's go instantly and it only takes one push. My hands touch his body one last time and he falls off the edge. He doesn't reach out, he accepts his fate as he falls further and further down until he is just a dot and then nothing.

_"Congratulations Harabel Lucsley, winner of the 76th annual Hunger Games!"_

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**A/N: There you have it. Harabel Lucsley has won the 76th Hunger Games. Did you see that coming? Hopefully that was a good finale and I did Luna and Lars justice.**

**Luna- I think she did amazingly well for a twelve year old but come on, she wasn't going to win- she was twelve after all. But I liked the Harabel/Luna alliance and I like how she progressed as a character.**

**Lars- He was a very unique and one of my favourite characters to write for, I liked messing with his head and changing him about and I like how he brought fire into the arena.**

**But congratulations to androidilenya for creating Harabel Lucsley.**

**This is the end of this story and if I decide to do the 77th Hunger Games we will hear more from Harabel, obviously because she's amazing.**

**It would be great if you answered some questions in a review:**

**Who did you want to win?**

**Who were your favourite three tributes?**

**Least favourite three?**

**Favourite alliance?**

**Least favourite?**

**Best death?**

**Best last line?**

**Favourite chapter?**

**Who did you think would win?**

**Thanks for reading and please give me one last review.**


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